Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. White Queen, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
I am pleasantly surprised when I appear back in my Reston, VA apartment. I think that it would be an understatement for me to say that the day has been exceptionally stressful. I could really use a stiff drink right about now, but first, I have to turn on the TV to see if I am on the news. As I flip through all the news channels, this little item catches my eye when it scrolls across the bottom of my screen.
**BREAKING NEWS from San Francisco**
A one size fits all, chiseled and over groomed anchorman begins to speak. “Hi, this is Dan Vincent reporting from the Faux News studio in LA. We have just received reports of a vicious and unprovoked attack on law enforcement agents responding to a combination bomb threat and hostage situation in the San Francisco Convention Center by someone dressed up like the Riddler and a new super-villain calling herself Mystique.”
WTF! I’m a super-villain, but the Riddler dude is just someone wearing a costume?
“In related news, we are receiving reports that the San Fransisco Federal Reserve Bank was robbed this evening by someone dressed to resemble the comic book villain, The Joker. Authorities are unwilling to speculate if the the two incidents are related.”
Oh shit. The Federal Reserve Bank?!? That’s not good.
A picture of the Riddler and the Joker appear in the background to the right the talking head. Beside them, there is a female shadow with a big red question mark. I feel very frustrated. Unlike myself, those two can just take their costumes off and those costumes can be found at almost any costume shop in the country. I find myself feeling a little relieved that they don’t have a picture for me, yet.
“This just happened and the reports are still coming in, but Faux News will try to keep you updated as new information is made available to this network. Local Faux News Channel Nine will be on the scene momentarily and as soon as they have some news to report, we will make that available.”
The reporter glances off camera, “Do we have any pictures of this Mystique person? Anything? We do? Great!”
I groan when my picture appears in the place holder’s position. The quality is pretty bad. I can tell that I’m a blue girl with red hair, holding a huge gun and wearing a white dress thing. That’s it. They must have got it from someone's cell phone or something. I guess that I don’t have to worry too much about anyone using that to get a positive ID on me anytime soon.
“Pardon the low resolution on her picture folks. This was taken from someone who might be,” He stops for a second, “No, is still trapped inside the convention center as the police begin their hunt for this dangerous woman. We will update her picture as soon as a better one is made available.”
They cut to a commercial break and I use that distraction to walk into the kitchen and see if I can find that drink. I’m getting tired of carrying my gun around. It’s caused me a lot of trouble and I would toss it in the trash, but it probably won’t fit. I set it on the counter instead. It makes a nice and solid thunk sound as I set it down. It isn’t until I finally set the thing down that I realize just how heavy it is. I shake my right arm out a few times to help loosen my muscles.
As I reach up to open cabinet door with my left hand, I notice that my glove has my blood all over the palm and fingers. It’s still wet too. My right hand is clean though. Okay, that’s weird. I know that I used my left hand to turn on the TV. Did I just smear blood all over the remote when I turned on the TV?
“Hmmm, maybe I should take these things off so I don’t get blood all over my kitchen?” I mutter to myself.
I carefully remove the glove on my right hand with my teeth. I don’t want to get blood all over the clean one too. Then, I rinse and scrub the blood off on my left hand glove in the sink before I peel it off too. There is still a light red stain on the glove, but oh well. Nothing I can do about that right now and I wonder why I even care. I just drape the wet glove over the gun to help it dry.
As I take a step back, I notice that there is some blood smeared against the cabinet door in front of the sink. I look down and it finally dawns on me why the front of my costume feels so wet and sticky. My left shoulder, stomach and right thigh are covered in blood. Additionally, my right boot has drops of blood running down the front of it.
“Shit!” I say, hoping that I didn’t get any blood on my carpet. That would make it harder to recover my rental deposit. I wet a washcloth and wipe the blood off my upper thigh. Rinse the washcloth and idly note how red the water looks as it swirls down the drain. Next, I wipe off my boot and follow that up by wiping the blood off my shoulder. I pull the edge of my costume away and wedge the washcloth under the costume in an attempt to soak up the blood that worked its way inside the costume. The shoulder is fairly easy to clean off since most of the blood is on the outside.
My stomach proves to be a bit harder to clean. There is a little blood on the outside of the costume where it leaked through the bullet hole, but when I pull up and reach under my dress to wipe my stomach off, the wash cloth comes back very soaked in blood. Yuck.
I manage to get the worst of that cleaned up, but I will be very happy when I can take a shower and get into some clean clothes. I would just take the costume off and do all that now, but I can’t. The zipper is in the back and it’s stuck. Plus, I don’t have any clothes in my apartment that will fit me.
I grab some Windex and wipe down the front of the cabinet door with some paper towels, then I follow that up by checking the floor and countertops for any blood that I may have accidentally dripped onto. All clear. Guess I got lucky.
With the cleaning done, I glance back at the gun and frown. From a distance, the thing looks pretty damn real. It fooled me the first time I saw it, but up close, okay, it still looks pretty real. It’s only after you hold it, that you can really tell that it is fake and made of plastic. It’s not the cheap plastic that you might get from a toy store. Instead, it is a solid high grade plastic that you might see from a movie prop.
Finally, I return to my original mission and open the liquor cabinet. I frown when I find it empty of everything worth drinking. I don’t like wine, so the three bottles of my ex’s wine doesn’t count. Oh yeah. Now I remember that I drank the last bit of rum to celebrate my team’s semi-final win. I grab a clean glass from the cabinet and decide to just get myself some water instead.
All the searching for stuff in the cabinets reminds me that my feet are killing me. I would love to take my boots off, but I don’t know if I would be able to get them back on. I’m sure that my feet are swollen right now from wearing these high heeled monstrosities. Amber the Costume Goddess told me that they are only three inch heels. Like that makes them better somehow. However, I do have to admit that the heels make reaching for things with my reduced stature a bit easier.
The water tastes like heaven to me as I greedily chug it down and refill my glass. I wonder if I have any beer in the fridge. Encouraged by that idea, I check the fridge and sigh with disappointment. Nope, not even an unwanted lite beer orphaned in the back.
From the living room, I hear the commercial break end.
“If you’re just tuning in, we are reporting on a breaking news story from San Francisco California and we are now here with local Faux News Channel Nine reporter Amelia Roberts. Amelia, what updates do you have for us at this time?”
Water glass in hand, I saunter back into the living room to watch. I wish that I knew how to just walk in these heels, but once Amber the Costume Goddess found out that I didn’t know how to walk in heels at all, she took it upon herself to train me to walk like I’m stalking prey or something. It reminds me of the gait that supermodels use on the catwalk crossed with a dancer. Each step is very measured and precise, yet dangerous and sensual looking; or so I am told. After spending almost an hour walking around in these heels and getting whacked for every misstep, I’m afraid that my high heel stalking walk has become habit now. If I walk like this without heels on, I think that I will scream.
“Thanks Dan, from our early eyewitness reports, the Riddler and Mystique are thought to be responsible for planting disguised explosive devices at all the exits of the Convention Center. Once the police arrived in force, Mystique stayed behind to cover the Riddler’s daring helicopter escape. After a brief exchange of fire that critically injured two officers, Mystique disappeared into the bowels of the Convention Center’s basement level. In an effort to capture her before she can escape, the San Francisco Police Department and the FBI have cordoned off all of the exits from Center.”
“We are still waiting for an official response to our questions regarding the alleged Federal Reserve Bank robbery that was reported to happen at the same time.”
“The FBI in cooperation with the Department of Meta-Human Affairs has issued a joint statement regarding this latest meta-human incident and based on that statement, it appears that Mystique will soon be on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. If you see her, please to not try to apprehend her. She is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. Please call 911 immediately.”
Amelia looks to her right as the guy with the Punisher t-shirt who took a few pictures of me walking the Convention floor is thrust into the spotlight.
“We have with us right now, Mark. Mark was attending the Convention when everything went dangerously wrong. Mark, can you tell us what you saw?”
Oh, this could be bad. Poor Mark looks like a deer caught in the headlights. “Um, yeah. I mean, so like, this Mystique chick was like hot, I mean, smoking hot, but I don’t know if she was really with the Riddler dude, ‘cause she was in the costume contest first. Oh, I got some good pictures of her if you want.”
I’m not sure that I like being called “smoking hot” by this Mark guy. Now, I feel a little creeped out for posing for him and letting him take my picture.
Amelia looks a little flustered, but at the same time I can see the calculating look that crosses her face as soon as the poor sap mentions the pictures. “Pictures? Oh that would be great Mark!” She goes all smile and vamp on him. “Would you be able to let my cameraman over there pull the pictures of your camera?”
“Oh sure, like no problem.” Mark replies, smiling at Amelia. Yep, he’s a nerd. All she had to do was smile at him and she totally has him wrapped around her fingers.
“There you have it folks. Once my producer is able to go through, umm, Mark’s pictures,” I think that she almost forgot the dude’s name there. “, we will provide our viewers with some exclusive and never before seen images of this Mystique woman.”
She completely ignores the part about where he said that I wasn’t with the Riddler. She grabs a few more passing folks for interviews. None of them back me up. They all rave about how cool it was to watch me take on the police and see the Green Arrow try to stop me.
They display one of the pictures from Mark’s camera and wouldn’t you know that they picked the one where I am looking my most threatening and aiming my fake gun at the camera? Oh no, they completely ignore the ones where I posed alongside Wolverine, Storm and Magneto while we all smiled happy for the camera. Those sensationalist rat bastards.
“As you can see from this picture of Mystique...”
“You bitch! I am not Mystique!” I growl under my breath. I feel like screaming, but I don’t want to wake the neighbors.
“...she appears to be a little younger than I expected. Maybe eighteen or twenty, but from the eye witness accounts, we can’t let her apparent age fool us. She is clearly a very dangerous and troubled young woman.”
I can’t stand it anymore. I am NOT Mystique and I am most certainly not claiming or calling myself by that name. I so do not look twenty either! Grrrr! Wait a minute. Did I just get mad because she thought I might be twenty instead of sixteen like everyone else thinks?
Oh god.
I can’t believe that I just got mad about that. I turn off the TV and fall bonelessly to my knees in the middle of my living room floor. The remote for the TV slips out of my hand and falls onto the carpet. I briefly consider picking it back up so that I can throw it into the TV, but Jenny got me the cool programmable remote for my birthday last year and I feel kind of attached to it.
Well, at least I’m home and safe in my apartment. I’m not sure how long I will be safe here, but if everyone thinks that I am still in California and trapped inside the San Francisco Convention Center by the police, then I think that I might be safe for at least a day. Maybe two days if I’m real lucky.
I begin to cry a little as I sink further to the floor, my bare knees splay out until my bikini clad butt rests on the carpet with my white loin cloth dress thing spread out on the floor between my legs. Based on my current seated position and how comfortable it feels, it looks like I am way more limber than I used to be. The long red hair of my wig hangs across my face as I look down and just stare at the perfectly smooth, blue skin of my legs.
I really wish that I had listened to my ex-girlfriend and quit playing “That Fucking Game!” as in, “You love that fucking game more than me!” or “Why don’t you just go play with your virtual fucking girlfriend you insensitive jerk!”
Sorry about dropping the f-bombs there. Her words, not mine. You would think that as a journalism major and a novice reporter for the local paper that she would have less of a potty mouth. Notice that I called her my ex-girlfriend? Obviously, I thought that Dragon’s Blood Online (DBO) was the best game evah!
Well, I did think that was true, until I woke up four days ago strapped down in a hospital bed with a nurse exclaiming, “She’s awake!”
That’s when I kind of knew that I maybe should’ve listened to Jenny. She’s that ex-girlfriend that I just mentioned. Except for the time spent at work, I managed to go 100% estrogen free for six months and with perfect hindsight, I really did miss having her in my life.
That makes me realize that I’m crying my eyes out and that I have mascara running down my cheeks. Why am I crying and why do I have mascara running down my cheeks?
The first question is easier to answer.
I’m crying because I just got my ass shot off by a trigger happy SWAT team and I challenge anyone to not feel upset about something like that. I can’t really blame them for shooting me. It was pretty stupid of me, but I can’t help feel a little conflicted about the fact that I was kicking their asses until that superhero Green Arrow chick took a shot at me with some exploding arrow things. The arrows seemed to be more bang and flash than explosion, so maybe the Green Arrow wasn’t trying to kill me. That made me think long enough to realize that I should get the hell out of there before someone really got hurt, like me. I’m sure that Jade, American Dream or The Spectre are on their way to my living room right now. Hell, maybe they all are.
I know that I am dressed in a representation of Mystique’s original X-Men costume and before all hell broke out, I took second place in the costume contest, but I’m not a shape shifter. I am also not Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Ergo, I am not Mystique. I just sorta kinda mostly look like her when I am wearing her costume. Okay, so I have yellow eyes like Mystique, but they are just contacts. My real eyes are red and everyone knows that Mystique does not have red eyes. If I take the contacts out and my wig off, I wouldn’t look anything like Mystique. Well, except for the blue skin and the Mystique costume.
I reach back and try to get back of the costume unzipped once more, but it’s still stuck and I can’t get enough leverage. Grrr!
My attempt to twist my arms into a pretzel behind my back is cut short by the sound of a key being jammed into the lock of my front door. This is it. I’m done fighting. Just come and haul me off to jail where cop killers like me belong. Well, maybe I’m not a cop killer, but I obviously put a few in the hospital tonight. I hope that they are going to be okay.
I hear the door softly open, someone enter and then close the door behind them. The solid thunk of the deadbolt locking back into place surprises me. That’s not normal cop procedure, is it? Where did they get a key? Oh yeah, maybe from the apartment manager? They aren’t saying anything. Wouldn’t the police yell out something like, “This is the police! Freeze!” Maybe it’s an assassin? Okay, if the person is an assassin, they have to be pretty damn incompetent to make all that noise at the front door.
I decide to just remain passively sitting in the middle of the living room floor. I could just power up all my buffs and blast the living shit out of whoever walks down the hallway, but after what I just saw on the news, I kind of hope that it is an assassin. I just want them to have a clean shot so that I don’t suffer. Now there is a morbid thought.
I’m pretty damn surprised when I hear Jenny’s voice call from down the hallway. “John? Are you here?”
Crap! I forgot that she still had a key to the apartment.
I’m even more surprised when I don’t try to run and hide from her. I just know that after she is done laughing at me, she is going to be a self-righteous bitch about my situation. Just before she calls the cops on me.
I might as well get it over with. I sigh before I softly reply, “In the living room.”
“John? Why are all the lights off?”
They are off? I didn’t notice. It seems bright enough in here to me. Oh yeah, I’m a Dark Elf now. I have Dark Vision or something that lets me see in the dark. I wonder why she isn’t asking why I sound like a girl. It feels good to hear my real name again, but I was just starting to get used to my new one.
The living room light snaps on and I hear Jenny gasp with surprise. I’m still just looking down at my legs.
“John?”
Why is she still asking me if I am John? She turned the damn lights on. Can’t she see that there is some blue skinned chick with a cheap wig sitting here and not the loser dough-boy lump of her ex-boyfriend? I turn my head to look at her.
“It’s Valerie now.”
She gasps with surprise, but she doesn’t scream. I guess that’s a good thing. She just stands there rooted in place as she takes in my appearance.
“What?”
“I said, that it’s Valerie now. I’m not really John anymore. I kind of lack the right equipment.” I say as I pointedly glance down at my chest and crotch area.
I watch as her face shifts from shock before relaxing into thoughtfulness and finally stopping with the most surprising expression of them all for me right now. Concern. She actually looks concerned.
“Jen, what are you doing here?” I ask, snapping her out of her shock.
“Omigod! John! I mean, umm, Valerie I’ll be right back!” She turns around and races into the kitchen. I wonder if she is going for a knife. I hear the water in the sink running. Maybe she is washing the knife first? Instead of a knife, she rushes out of the kitchen with a wet washcloth and crouches down on her knees beside me. I notice that it isn’t the same washcloth that I used earlier. “Did you know that there is a big gun thing on the counter and that you have a bloody washcloth in the sink?”
“Yeah, but the gun isn’t real.”
She blinks once, doesn’t say anything to that. I would laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but I am too drained and confused by her behavior to resist when she begins to use the washcloth to clean my face. I just stare blankly at her face as she carefully wipes the mascara from around my eyes and off my cheeks.
“Okay, close your eyes so I can get inside the corners of your eyes and get the gunk off your lashes easier.” I close my eyes. She gently continues to rub the crap off my face.
She stops working my eyes and gives my entire face a quick once over. “There! All done. I think that I got most of the crap off your face. Do you want me to get that wig off of you?”
I re-open my eyes and just look at her. She’s just calmly studying me. Not laughing or maliciously smiling at me. Nope. She has what looks like the start of an encouraging and friendly smile on her face. I feel my eyes begin to get a little wet again.
I would say “Yes, please.”, but I’m not sure if I could get it out without breaking down. I nod my head affirmatively once instead.
She pulls my unresisting head down and uses her fingers to find and pull out the pins holding the wig onto my head. A gentle tug and the hated thing is off! It feels so good to not have that stifling thing on my head.
“Wow, your real hair is so shiny. It’s beautiful!”
“Ummm...okay.”
She begins to pull out the pins holding my real hair. “Lemme get the pins out and get a good look at you.”
I’m glad that she’s here, but I don’t understand. “It’s a little late. Why are you here Jen?”
“Oh, I saw your picture on the news.” Jen says, distractedly as she pulls out some more pins. Her response kind of answers my question, but it doesn’t really answer the why.
I feel my hair finally hang free once more. My scalp feels tons better already, but how did she recognize me? Hell, I don’t even recognize myself right now. I wonder how many laws she broke to get to my apartment so fast. In good traffic, her apartment is normally twenty minutes away. Well, it is pretty early so I guess traffic is pretty easy right now. She must have noticed my confused expression.
“I watched you play this character enough,” says Jenny, quickly looking me up and down. “I mean, I complained about you playing her every time I saw her. Plus, I watched your final match over the Internet. I’d recognize you anywhere. But, I have to say, you are looking a little younger than your character looked on the screen.”
“Umm, yeah. DBO never had younger character models, but I think that I look like what a teen-aged Dark Elf would look like at sixteen. That’s if I’m lucky.”
“Hmmm, yeah. Sixteen, but maybe eighteen if you added some makeup.”
“Oh Joy. Wait a minute, you watched me play? On purpose?!”
She flashes an embarrassed smile at me. “Yeah, I watched your team win the contest last weekend. I was so happy for you!”
Boom! There goes my head. It just exploded all over the living room. I hope that I didn’t get any of my brains on Jenny. I manage to gasp out. “You what!? You were!?!”
She gently laughs at me. I feel too stunned to resist as she sits up on her knees and wraps her arms around me, crushing my head against her chest as she hugs me. I feel myself start to relax in the comfort of her embrace. The warmth of her body and familiar scent is so reassuring.
“I missed you so much Jen.” Once I admit that to her, I can’t stop myself. I return her hug as I break down and cry once again. Except this time, my tears are tears of relief instead of useless frustration, anger and self-pity. It feels so good to let it all out. I feel like I’ve been running on fumes since I woke up. I can’t believe the Jenny is here. I can’t believe how much has changed for me. My life is over. I have no identity. No family. I’m no one and now I can’t even get help with getting a new ID from that hard-assed lady from the DMA, Agent Helligan. Not that it would help anyway even if I still could get an ID. I’m a wanted criminal.
The tears turn into body wracking sobs. “Oh god, Jenny! What am I going to do?”
She responds by hugging me even tighter while she gently rocks me back and forth with her body; whispering “shhhh, it’s okay baby. I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere.”
I lose track of time, but I finally manage to stop crying. I even manage to let out a quick laugh at the idea of how we must look together. Here I am, the newest and most dangerous evil super-villain being hugged by my ex-girlfriend as I cry like a little baby.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’ll tell you in a second.” My voice is very nasally from all the snot trying to drain out of my nose. I stand up and run into the bathroom to blow my nose. Well, I sort of run. It’s more like a really fast tip toe stutter step thing. I will be so glad when I can get out of these damn boots. I’ve lost count of how many times I almost twisted my ankle.
That tip toe run thing reminds me of the new additions on my chest. The costume has a built in bra, but the running motion is doing strange things to my chest. I’m almost used to the sensation of my chest shifting when I walk. Now, I only really notice them every time I look down and they surprise me by blocking my view.
The bare legs, bikini and risque loin cloth skirt that is split all the way up to the top of my hips is still a strange clothing sensation. I’m glad that the top part of the costume covers me all the way up to just below my chin while leaving my shoulders and arms bare. With all the top covered, I can almost ignore the fact that I am practically naked from the bottom of my belly button and down.
Jenny follows me into the bathroom after I get the worst of the snot out of my nose. The sight of her standing leaned up against the door frame and studying me makes me feel a little nervous.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I like the name. Valerie. It suits you, but I’m amazed by how young, drop dead gorgeous and cutely evil that you look right now.”
I’m too stunned to make a coherent reply to that statement. “Huh?” See, I told you so.
Instead of an explanation, she just giggles at me. “So, what was so funny out there?”
“You said that you saw me on the news, right?”
Jenny nods.
“Well, I was just thinking about how pathetic of an evil super-villain I am with snot pouring out of my nose from crying so much.”
That earns me another giggle from Jen as I walk over to check my face in the mirror. I don’t want to have anything gross hanging out of my nose. I guess that I am pretty damn good looking, in an exotic kind of way. The yellow contacts come out pretty easy. I’m actually surprised that they didn’t fall out when I was crying my eyes out.
I blink a few times to get rid of the funny feeling in my eyes. It is such a relief to not have those things in my eyes. My blood red eyes and lips contrast nicely against my midnight blue skin. Add some body glitter and I could advertise myself as having a midnight blue metallic paint job.
My shiny silver hair looks a little bedraggled. I drag my brush through my hair a few times to tame the worst of it, but it still looks pretty bad. I really need a shower. I also need to chop off all this hair too. Holy crap, what a pain in the ass.
“Arrg! Can you get me a pair of scissors from the kitchen? I want you to cut all this crap off, please?”
“I most certainly won’t and don’t you dare either! Your hair is beautiful!”
I turn and look at her. “But Jen, it’s so hard to deal with.” I say with a touch of whine in my voice.
“Just promise me that you won’t do anything to your hair. If you really want it shorter, I’ll take you to my stylist so that it’s done right.”
I sigh with defeat. “Okay Jen. I won’t.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, I promise.” Why do all the women want me to keep my hair so long? Is it some sort of ‘misery loves company’ female bonding thing?
“Do you have a scrunchie thing I can borrow so that I can put this up into a ponytail?”
“Oh sure.” She reaches behind her head and pulls the scrunchie out of her hair before handing it to me. “Do you need any...”
She stops when she notices how easily I get my hair tamed. “How did you?”
I smirk. “Let’s just say that you’re not the first woman I’ve asked to cut off my hair.”
I’ve checked myself out in the mirror before, but I never really studied myself with a critical eye. In the hospital, I really only looked at myself and saw a person that I didn’t recognize. Everything moved to fast at the convention center. I was rushed from one thing to the next and the sight of myself in the mirror there just seemed so unreal. I felt like another person entirely. Which should be pretty hard considering that I am a different person now. If that makes any sense.
But now, as I study my new face. I feel...I feel, pleased?
Everything about my face is perfect. Even my teeth are perfectly white and even. When I smile I can see my cute little fangs on my upper and lower jaw. They just add to the overall evil effect. I don’t think that I am a vampire or anything like that. I don’t feel any hunger for blood anyway. I shudder slightly when I remember how I good I felt when I vamp drained those cops.
“What’s wrong?” Jenny sounds concerned again.
“Oh, nothing. I’ll tell you about it later.”
I return my focus to my reflection. See, not a vampire. I have a reflection. My delicately arched eyebrows have a little silver showing through where Jenny wiped some of the dye off that they used to color my eyebrows red to match the wig. The dangling silver skull earrings hanging from my delicate looking pointy elf ears coupled with the matching silver skull insignia headband complete the evil illusion.
My reflection. That’s it! MY reflection. Until now, I haven’t really thought of my reflection as me. I smile at that thought.
“So. J...Valerie. When you’re done checking yourself out in the mirror, can you tell me what the hell happened, where you got that wicked costume from and why you have bullet holes in it?”
Oh, this is going to be a long story. “Umm, can we talk about this in the living room?”
“Sure.” Jen smiles at me as she steps out of the bathroom doorway so that I can squeeze past her.
I get about halfway down the hall before I feel the need to revisit the bathroom. I stop and turn back to face Jen. “On second thought, I need to go pee.”
She just giggles at me again. “So do I. I know that you’re kinda new to this. Can you hold it?”
“Umm, I think so?”
She ponders that for a second. “Okay, you go. I’ll wait.”
“Thanks!” I say as I rush past her, anxiously pull down the bikini bottom thing covering my new girl junk, pull the divided skirt thing out of the way, hold the skull belt thing up as I sit down on the cold toilet seat and let go with a sigh of relief. I thought about taking the damn belt off, but there is no way that I want to waste the time it would take to do that while doing the pee-pee dance.
My relief is short lived when Jen asks, “Do you need any help with, ya know?”
I kind of forgot that she was there for a second. The urge hit me kind of hard and fast. I feel myself blush, but I doubt that she can see it with my skin color. “Nope, I’m good. I have had to pee a few times before now.” I reply as I quickly wipe myself under her supervision.
“Okay. Thanks for warming up the seat. Can I go now?” She says with a tight expression.
I guess that she really has to go too. I stand and jump out of the way while I quickly get my bikini bottoms pulled back up. I am a little embarrassed by how quickly and natural I look while I adjust the bikini’s fit across my butt cheeks. I finish that up by expertly smoothing my skirt to cover as much as possible. I even wash my hands, yes, I do know enough to wash my hands, thank you very much.
I am a little surprised when Jen flushes the toilet and turns back to push me out the bathroom door so that she can wash her hands too. “Okay, meet me in the kitchen and we will see what we can find for drinks. I wouldn’t mind some wine right about now and since you’re now underage, I think that you should stick to that for right now too.”
“That’s not even funny, but okay, I still have a few bottles of your wine in the pantry.”
Open wine bottle and filled wine glasses in hand, I bring up the rear as we retire to the living room for story time. The bright overhead light is killing my eyes. I start to walk across the room to hit the light switch when Jen stops me.
“Wait! Stop. How did you learn to walk like that?”
I am so glad that my skin is blue. If it wasn’t my entire body would be beet red right now. “Umm, at the Convention. The lady who designed this costume taught me.”
Jenny looks surprised. “Wow. Really, just wow. You really ooze danger with that walk of yours, but I want to really see what you look like.”
I feel a bit embarrassed by her attention now. I look back at her. “But, Jeeennn”
“Don’t try that pout on me young lady! I’m an expert.” I stick my tongue out at her and I am rewarded by her holding back an obvious giggle. “Now. Slowly turn all the way around. I want to see what you look like.”
I spin around feeling very exposed and timid.
“Come on honey. I know you were in the costume contest. Strike some poses!”
I give up and do as she asks. I stalk back into the kitchen and grab the fake gun so that I can perform some of the poses I did at the convention. I leave the gloves in the kitchen so that the one can dry.
“Okay, okay. That’s enough. It’s official now. I hate you.” She says, mocking me.
“Umm, What?” I nervously look at her.
“Except for your blue skin, you’re freaking perfect. Hell, even your blue skin is perfect. Not a blemish, zit or freckle to be found. You’re like a guy’s wet dream come to life. Perfect face, perfect boobs, perfect butt, perfect hips, perfect legs. Hell, you even have the perfect little tummy. Not an ounce of fat or cellulite on your body!”
“It’s not my fault!” I whine as I feel my eyes start to tear up again.
“Oh Val. Do you mind if I call you that?”
“I’m not sure. Val sounds kinda, I dunno. Meh?”
“Okay, how about Ally. It kind of fits into Valerie. Vally. Ally.”
“Hmmm, actually. I kinda like Ally better. I don’t really have a middle name picked out. Allison could work.”
“Okay! Valerie Allison Wilson, Ally it is then!” She pauses for a couple of seconds. “Ya know, You could flip that around. Allison Valerie sounds a touch better.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, but the way you look. It’s just not fair!”
“Huh?”
“I could spend every hour of the day in the gym working out and eating nothing but rabbit food and I’d never look even half as good as you do right now and you didn’t even have to try.”
“Umm, I’d trade you in a heartbeat if I could. Well, except for the girl thing that I’m sorta stuck with. I mean, I’d gladly be my old self again and you could be me.”
She laughs. “No thank you. I might be a little jealous of you, but I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes right now!”
“Ookaay,” I say dubiously. “Well, I don’t really wanna be in my shoes either. These heels are killing my feet.” That’s all I got for a rebuttal. It earns me a knowing smirk from Jenny. “Can I turn off the light now?”
“Sure. Then just turn on the lamp in the corner so that we have a little light to see by.”
“Okay.”
After I have the lighting taken care of, I sit back down on the couch and drop the gun on the floor. Then, I gratefully unzip and pull off my boots before I snuggle myself into the corner of one of the arm rests and take a sip from my wine glass. I’m surprised by how good the wine tastes to me. I can make out a dozen subtle flavors and scents that combine into a single flavor that I find delicious. “That’s weird.”
“What?”
“The wine. I don’t remember wine ever tasting so good before. I always thought it tasted kind of, umm, vinegary.”
“Well, maybe it’s a girl thing or maybe your taste buds are more refined now?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Guess so...”
“Lemme see your feet.”
I glance at her curiously. “Why?”
“I’ll give you a quick massage. I know that always made my feet feel better when you did that for me after I wore heels.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.” I stretch my legs out so she can get to my feet. I hope that my feet aren’t too stinky. Her fingers feel absolutely delightful. I groan with relief and after a few minutes I feel like I am going to fall asleep.
“So, is that a real bullet hole and real blood or are they part of the costume?”
I glance down at myself. “Oh, they’re real alright.”
She stops rubbing my feet. “Are you hurt?”
“Umm, not anymore, but can you keep rubbing my feet? That feels so good.”
She restarts the massage. “Okay, Who shot you?”
“The police.”
“What?!?” She stops again. “Why?”
“Probably because they thought my gun was real and that I was going to shoot them with it.”
She lets my feet fall back to the cushions. “Okay. Spill it. I wanna know everything that happened to you from the time you left DC until I found you crying in the middle of your living room floor.”
“Okay.” I pull my feet back and tuck them under me as I make myself comfortable. I take another sip of wine to focus my thoughts. It does taste pretty good and I can feel a warm glow already starting in my tummy. Wow, I’m a real light weight now.
“So, after you rightfully left my sorry ass, I...”
She holds up her hand to stop me. “Wait. Do you mind if I grab my recorder and record this? I might wanna write a story for the paper later and it could help explain your side of the story better. Hell, it might even get you out of trouble.”
“Umm, sure?” Heck, it couldn’t hurt. I’m already in pretty deep shit as it is. However; I am a little disappointed that she didn’t disagree about the ‘rightfully leaving’ part.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. Mystique from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler, Joker and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. Mystique from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler, Joker and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
I yawn and make a show of stretching. “Wow! Look at the time! I think I need to get some sleep.”
Jenny leans forward, looking incredulous. “No way! Come on. You can’t stop now! What happened after that?”
I decide to tease her some. “Well...” I stop with a heavy sigh. “If you really must know, I woke up in my hotel room with Milla laying naked in the bed next to me.”
Jenny leans back and sighs with disgust. “Damn it Ally! That’s not funny and what is it with you and Milla?”
I shrug my shoulders and smile. “Beats me. I really don’t know why she likes me so much.”
“Arrghh! Even when you’re a girl, you are such a guy! You can’t just stop like that! I wanna know what really happened next.” She shakes her finger at me in frustration while I calmly take a sip of wine to hide my smirk. Oh yeah, my male mojo is still intact.
I pause for a second to savor the taste. I really don’t understand how I can like and appreciate the taste of wine now, but I guess it works out in my favor since I was out of everything else. “Well, I’m not really sure myself. I had some weird dreams about DBO and I remember waking up once for a little bit. I was burning up with a fever and there where some doctors standing over me saying stuff, but I couldn’t understand them. About the only thing I do remember from that time is someone cooling my forehead with a washcloth and that it felt so comforting. Other than that, I really don’t remember much until I woke up Wednesday morning.”
Jenny relaxes as I continue my story. She takes another sip of her wine too. “Okay, go on.”
I felt weird.
It felt like every muscle and bone in my body hurt. Even my teeth hurt. I wanted to move, but as sore as I felt just sitting still, I was afraid that I might hurt myself more. I could understand that after getting zapped like I did, but beyond the aches and pain, something just didn’t feel right. I could feel a blanket wrapped around my chest and tucked under my arms to leave my shoulders and arms exposed. I wasn’t cold, but I think I would have preferred to be completely under the covers.
Even with my eyes closed, the light seemed very bright. I was afraid to open them. Did they have to have the lights on full blast? I blinked once to test the idea of opening them, but the glare made me close my eyes almost immediately.
Besides the usual antiseptic smells, I could hear all of the sounds one would normally associate with a hospital. Everything seemed louder than normal. Like my hearing was better and not damaged from all the concerts I went to when I was in college or maybe the acoustics in the room were just really good. As sore as I felt, I decided to just keep my eyes closed and not move for a few minutes. I wanted to savor the sensation of being alive. I heard the occasional sound of footsteps walking in the hallway outside of my room, but it was muted. I couldn’t tell without opening my eyes, but I guessed that the door to my room was closed. I wondered how I rated a private room.
My tongue felt like someone had poured sand into my mouth while I was out. I didn’t think that there was anyone in my room, but I still tried to ask for water. All that came out of my throat was a high pitched sound that vaguely resembled the word. It was more of a groan. I tried to get some saliva going, but there was absolutely nothing there.
Since I had never actually stayed in a hospital, I knew that I needed to open my eyes and look for one of those call button things. As I opened my eyes, the bright light made me blink and squint a lot. I must have done that for a minute until my eyes adjusted to the light. I reached up to rub my eyes and I felt a slight pinch in my left arm. That stopped me as I turned my head to see what was pinching my arm.
Some long silver colored hair got in my face and left eye. Also, my ear felt funny as it rubbed against the pillow. Those strange sensations were forgotten when I saw the skin of my exposed shoulder and left arm. I had an IV taped to my arm and my skin looked dark blue. Not only that, but my arm looked smaller and smoother. Gone was the course, dark hair on my forearms. Without the hair, my arm looked feminine to me.
Well, I remembered being shocked and smelling something burning, maybe the doctors put some new high tech blue colored burn therapy goo on my skin? Maybe the blue stuff was just making my arm look smaller and smoother?
My sore neck and back muscles protested when I lifted my head up to get a better look at my surroundings. Yep, I was in a hospital room and it was a private room. The lights were off and the curtains were closed, but the room still seemed bright to me.
I shook my head in confusion and felt my hair shift around a lot more than I was used too. How long was my hair now and if it felt so long, how many months was I unconscious? I spotted the nurse call button thing hanging close to my right hand. As I reached for it, my upper torso twisted and something else on my chest moved too. That stopped my reaching for the call button.
I looked down and really focused on my chest. What I saw was not something I expected to see from this angle. I saw the rounded shape of what reminded me of a pair of women’s breasts pushing against the bedding that was wrapped around my upper torso.
That distracted me enough that the sound of a woman’ voice speaking from the doorway surprised me. “Oh. You’re awake.”
I didn’t notice the door open. I looked up and saw an attractive, brown haired, thirty-something woman wearing purple hospital scrubs. She had a lanyard around her neck with a badge on it, but it was twisted around and I couldn’t see what I assumed to be her name badge. She had a concerned look on her face as she approached me. “How are you feeling sweetie?”
The basic question distracted me from the strange visual and physical sensation caused by whatever was making the mound shape on my chest. “Water?” I ask in a barely audible voice. It was more of a croak, but the pitch was higher than I expected. I tried to clear my throat to get rid of the pitch problem to ask again, but the woman reached behind my head to help support me while she held a glass of water to my lips.
“Here you go dear. Take small sips.” She said with almost a paternal smile. It sounded like she was treating me like a child. I didn’t care because the cool water washed away the sandpaper feeling in my mouth and soothed my throat. I could not remember the last time a simple glass of water tasted so good to me. I focused all of my attention on her face while I was drinking the water. She had some amazing green eyes while her caring and patient expression reassured me. After I finished the water in the small glass, I relaxed back into my pillow as she gently helped me lower my head.
“Thanks.” I said, smiling at her. Now that my mouth was no longer desert dry, I expected my voice to sound normal. It didn’t. I sounded like a girl and I think my confusion started to show on my face.
“Shhhh. It’s okay honey. You don’t need to speak right now. I’m sure your voice is still just a little raw.”
I think that she was trying to get me to not talk, but out of habit I replied. “Oh, okay...”
My throat did not in any way, shape or form feel raw, but my voice definitely sounded like a girl’s voice. I started to really get worried. “What’s wrong with me?”
She gently placed her hands on my shoulders and leaned down. “You’re fine dear. Nothing is wrong with you. Just relax and calm down.”
That didn’t help. It just told me that something was really wrong with me. Which reminded me that my skin looked blue and my hair was really long and silver and the lights weren’t on, but it was still really bright in here and there were some lumps on my chest. Was I starting to panic just a little? Yes. Especially since the woman now holding me down looked like she was only five five or so and maybe a hundred and twenty pounds, if that. I should have been able to easily force myself up with my five eleven and two hundred fifty pound weight advantage, but here she was holding me down pretty easily.
“Let me go!” I started to thrash around some as I worked on sitting up. My voice only added to my panic. “What’s wrong with me?! Why do I sound like a girl?” I yelled as my panic overcame what little rational thought I had left. I felt a pain in me left arm as the IV needle was pulled and tugged on from my thrashing.
I had to get out of here! The nurse let go of me with one of her hands to reach for something. That is all I needed in my panicked state to force myself into a sitting position. The bedding fell from my chest as I struggled and that is when I saw them. Breasts. I had breasts. All that was secondary to the fact that my skin was blue, hairless and perfectly smooth without a single blemish. I felt my? breasts heaving up and down with every breath as I struggled for air. I reached up with my right hand and grabbed one of them. I felt that.
“Ahhhh!” I screamed. “What happened!? Is my?!” I ripped the covers off from around my hips and legs and instead of my manhood, I found more blue hairless skin leading to a flat and smooth roundness with a small clear plastic hose coming out from between two blue, pleasantly rounded and hairless girl legs. That is when I felt a small pinch on my upper arm.
I forgot about the nurse. I turned and looked for what just pinched me. I spotted her calmly extracting a syringe from my arm.
“What did you?” I asked her as my chest heaved as I struggled to find enough air and then, it heaved a little extra on top of that.
“It’s nothing to worry about dear. Just something to help calm you down.”
It must have been some pretty fast acting stuff, because I could feel my breathing start to slow in spite of my desire to freak out.
“What happened to me? Why am I a girl?” I asked as I started to feel a lassitude take control of my muscles. I felt my eye lids begin to droop and I struggled to keep them open.
The nurse gently guided me back down. “Shhhhh. It’s okay honey. You just relax now. Everything is going to be okay.”
“Wha?” Was all I could manage to mumble before blackness once again over took me.
I stop and take another sip of my wine.
Jenny gasps with excitement. “Holy crap! That sounds pretty scary.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” I say, taking another sip from my wine glass. I’m starting to feel pretty good now. The wine is definitely helping me relax. I briefly close my eyes and shudder as I recall how I felt that first time.
“Are you okay? We can take a break if you want.” Jenny says as she leans over and touches my leg reassuringly.
I open my eyes and manage to crack a small smile. “No. I’m fine. I can continue. The second time was a little better, but I think it was only because I was tied down.”
The second time I woke up, the light was still shining brightly through my closed eye lids and once again, my mouth felt like a desert. I didn’t feel sore this time, but I still felt the wrongness of my body. I tried to move my arms, but this time I was restrained. I gently tugged on my restraints a few times, just to make sure I really was tied down. My hands did not move more than a few millimeters.
That made me open my eyes and again, I had to blink and squint for almost a minute before I could really open my eyes and look around. I was able to partially lift my head and neck up, but with my arms restrained, I was unable to really get enough leverage to really lift my head and see anything useful. My long hair still got in the way as I turned my head. I still had blue skin and an IV in my left arm. I did spot a small glass of water sitting on a table next to my bed. That reminded me that my mouth was dry and I was thirsty. I redoubled my efforts to escape from my restraints so that I could grab the water glass. After about half a minute of tugging, pulling, twisting and not getting any closer to freedom, I decided to try using the call button that was conveniently placed next to hand.
After a bit of wiggling, I was able to stretch my fingers, grab it and press the button. The same nurse entered the room a few seconds later. This time, she looked a little more cautious as she approached me.
“How are you feeling today dear?” She asked with a concerned expression.
I didn’t try to answer her this time. I just turned my head and looked at the glass of water.
She got the hint. “Oh? You’re thirsty. Of course. Let me help you with that.” She grabbed the glass and helped me lift my head up so that I could drink from the glass. I slowly swallowed the water and watched her face. She looked so patient and concerned about me. Once I drained the glass, she helped me gently lower my head back to the pillow again.
“Thanks.” I said, softly. I thought that if I whispered I might not sound like a girl. That didn’t work. I just sounded like a girl whispering.
“Oh, your welcome dear. Would you like me to get you some more?”
I tugged on the restraints once and looked down. “Can you untie my hands, please?” I said that as politely as I could and once again, my girl voice sounded so alien to my ears.
She looked at me with a sad expression. “I’m sorry sweetie, but doctor’s orders until she’s sure that you won’t try to hurt yourself again.”
I started to feel tears build up in my eyes and drip down the side of my face. I felt the wrongness of my body. I slid my tongue across my teeth. My teeth felt so perfect and strange. I wasn’t used to having perfectly straight and smooth teeth. My canines felt sharper too. It was the countless little things that all added up to make me feel like a stranger in my own body. I moved my legs a little to help make myself comfortable and that felt strange. My legs slid so smoothly across the bedding and I could feel a tube or something running under my left leg. The big ones were the empty feeling between my legs and the extra weights on my chest. “Why am I a girl?”
She gently placed her hand on my right arm and looked into my eyes. Her eyes were so full of concern for me. “Oh sweetie. I don’t really know. All I know is that when you were admitted into the emergency room covered in electrical burns; the doctors expected the worst. It’s a miracle that you’re alive at all right now.”
Maybe that explains why I’m blue. They must have had to use some skin treatment thing on me to prevent infection. A blue iodine or something. I hoped that it would wash off. That didn’t really answer my question though. She said that she ‘didn’t really know’, which kind of meant that she had a good idea.
“You’re not allowed to tell me why I’m a girl?”
She grinned at me. “You’re pretty smart for someone who should still be in the burn or cardiac unit right now.” She certainly knew how to make me feel like I should just be glad to be alive. “No, I can’t tell you because I really don’t know. I have some ideas, but Doctor Karow and Doctor Morgan want to wait until we get some more tests back from the STAR labs before they are willing to confirm their suspicions.”
“When will they get the tests back?”
“Well, they expected them back yesterday, but it sounds like the labs and the DMA wanted to double check the results.”
Ah ha! She let something slip. The DMA. “Does the Department of Metahuman Affairs mean that I’m one of those ‘meta-human’ freaks?” I said with a touch of panic in my voice. I was a little scared. I had heard about Jade, Terra and who hasn’t heard about American Dream? Seriously, they were hot! I remembered reading that Terra used to be dude. Was there something about being a meta-human that would make me a girl. I never wanted to be a girl and I most certainly did not want to be a girl now. Was there some secret gay part inside of me that I didn’t know about?
Her reaction surprised me. She leaned over, grabbed both of my shoulders and looked at me with a little bit of anger in her eyes. “You are not a freak! Don’t you ever think that! Do you hear me? No ever!”
“What? Lady, I don’t know if you noticed, but I have fucking blue skin and who knows what else! How am I not a freak? Get me out of these fucking things!” I said with a growl as I angrily jerked my arms against the restraints as I tried to push her away from me. Compared to my old self, I felt so damn weak. I thought that if I was only still a guy, I could have easily broke free.
I think that I started to cry as I futilely struggled against the restraints. I tugged and pulled, but my arms wouldn’t budge. All this time, the nurse stayed quietly at my side until I tired myself out and I broke down. I felt worse than when my girlfriend left me. I felt like the world had just ended and I was the only survivor. No reason for me to keep fighting. Elvis had left the building.
I felt her hugging me. It felt good and reassuring somehow, but I didn’t know that nurses could hug their patients. I slowly stopped crying and she pulled away with a sad smile on her face.
She reached for a tissue from a nearby box and carefully dabbed around my eyes. I watched her every move. I was too afraid to say anything and too exhausted from my struggles. I wanted to know why she was so sad. I started to feel like a jerk for being such a bad patient. I didn’t even know her damn name. How rude was that of me?
“What is your name?” I asked, softly.
“Kim.” She said with the beginnings of a smile.
I mulled her name over in my head a few times. I remembered a Kim that I liked from High School. “Kim? I like that name.” I said, truthfully. The sound of her name felt good to me.
She smiled. “Thanks. So do I.” She casually checked a clipboard hanging beside my bed. “Now, I know that your name is really John, but all the nurses in this section have been calling you Jane.”
I’m not sure how to take that revelation. It actually makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I don’t feel like a Jane.
She glances at me like something is matching up. “Would you like some more water, John?”
She stressed my name. It sounded good to hear her say it. One little fragment of normality amongst a sea of wrongness. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I just nodded my head yes.
“Good. I’ll go get you some of the good water from the break room. Be right back!” Kim said as she grabbed the glass and left the room.
I used that time to take a quick non-touch inventory of my body. I touched my tongue to my teeth and lips. My lips felt a little poofier, but my teeth felt perfect and smooth. Well, except for the little sharp canine teeth I seem to have developed. My ears felt different too. Maybe they were longer, but I couldn’t tell without seeing or touching them. Based on my blue skin, silver hair and ears, I thought that I might be a dark elf, but I didn’t think that dark elves had vampire teeth. I glanced down and I definitely had boobs. I could feel the extra weight and loose feeling on my chest as they minutely shifted with every move I made. I tried to move my hips to see if I could feel my penis wiggle against my legs, but it just wasn’t there. I even tried flexing my penile muscles, but instead of feeling an internal to external response; I felt a completely internal response instead. Was I really a girl now and did I somehow turn into V?
My thoughts were interrupted by Kim returning with the glass of water. She smiled and helped lift my head up enough so I could sip from the glass. “Sorry John, I would just raise the bed up, but the restraints get in the way.”
I just nodded as I drank greedily from the glass. I didn’t care about the bed because the ice cold water tasted so good. The first glass of tepid water that I drank earlier tasted pretty damn good, but the ice cold water she gave me tasted like heaven. After I drank it down, I laid back with a pleased sigh.
“Thanks Kim.” I said, smiling for the first time. “That tasted like heaven. It’s amazing how a simple glass of water can taste so good, but I’d kill for a beer right about now!”
She giggled at me. “John, Oh my. I’m glad I was able to make you smile. You are so...” She stopped herself from saying whatever it was that she was going to say. “Umm, let’s just say that I think that you might have a problem getting a beer right now.”
“What? Why? Is there something else wrong with me?” I asked, looking desperately at her eyes to see if there was something horrifying about my appearance. I started to get worried again. Was there something more wrong with me besides me being a dark elf chick?
She nervously glances around the room for a few seconds. She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she puts her fingers to her lips as she turns to leave the room.
“What? Kim. What’s wrong with me?” I asked, with a hint of additional panic in my voice.
She stops at the door and turns back. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right back. I just need to get something from my purse.” She said with a whisper.
I stopped my story as I giggled at myself.
“What?! What’s so funny?” Jenny asks, looking at me like there is something wrong with me.
“Oh, nothing. I just remembered what I was most worried about when Kim left the room.”
“And that is funny, why?”
I can’t help myself. I giggle some more. “Well, I wasn’t worried about all the things I should’ve been worried about.”
“Umm, what things?”
“Well, I wasn’t worried about being a dark elf or even being a girl.” I stop and look at her as she hangs on my every word.
“What!? Damn it! What was it?” She asks, frustrated by my teasing.
“Well, let me tell you what happened and maybe you will figure it out.”
“Arrrghh! Fine! Get on with it then!”
I felt worried about Kim’s reaction. I rolled my eyes each way to try and look at my face, but all I could really see was a slightly smaller blue nose on my face and my silver hair when I turned my head. My ears definitely felt different too. They felt longer on top, but if I was a dark elf, than having pointy ears would make them longer.
She quietly returned to the room less than a minute later hiding something flat in her hand. Once she closed the door, she held the object up for me to see. It was a small mirror.
“Now. Based on your reaction yesterday, the doctors and the shrinks wanted to wait until they were around to show you this and I could get into trouble for showing you now.” She had my undivided attention. I really wanted to see what was so freakishly wrong with me. “So, you have to promise me that you won’t freak out and panic like you did yesterday. Okay?” She asked, looking very nervous and expectant.
“Am I that bad looking?” I asked.
She nervously laughed. “Oh no sweetie.” There she was calling me ‘sweetie’ again. “Not at all.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, feeling dubious.
“I promise. Now, do you promise not to freak out?” She asked waving the mirror back and forth, like it was a secret grand prize or something equally valuable.
“Ummm, I’m not sure if I can promise that. I’m really feeling worried now, but I can promise to try.”
“Hmm, okay. Here.” She held the mirror down so I could look at myself. The mirror was pretty small, but from about a foot away, I could just see my entire face.
I was stunned. I saw my eyes flare open with shock and what stunned me the most was that, even with the blue skin, I looked totally hot. Since my eyes were the first things I noticed, I studied them. The looked slightly larger than normal, but my eyes were a dark red that I found captivating. Especially when they were offset by my silver eyebrows. My lips matched and complemented the red color of my eyes. They were the most perfect cupid bow shaped lips I could remember seeing. I licked my lips with my tongue just to check to see if I was wearing lip color or something. I wasn’t, but they looked so red. It was like I was wearing a blood red shade of lip color. My nose was perfect for my face and when I scrunched up my lips to play with expressions, my nose made the cutest little crinkles around the edges. Just seeing that made me laugh as I turned to look at Kim in wonder at what I was seeing. She smiled encouragingly at me.
With my head turned to the side, I could see that my ears were pointed on the top. I was definitely my DBO character. I would recognize that face anywhere, but I think that I finally saw why Kim thought that I might have trouble getting served a beer. I looked like I might be sixteen or maybe eighteen in bad lighting. Certainly not old enough to drink. Hell, I might not even pass as a driver.
“Holy shit.” I said with an incredulous whisper as I recognized myself.
“What?”
“I’m Vylencia.”
“You’re what?”
“I look like my Dragon’s Blood character, Vylencia.” I said, absently as I continued to study my appearance in her mirror. I grinned to expose my teeth and I found that I did have fangs. Not horror movie scary vampire fangs, but cute little dainty fangs instead. My hair was straight and it looked completely silver. Not bleached blond and not grey, silver as in metallic silver and it looked like it might come to about the middle of my back if I was able to sit up and let it fall naturally.
“Well, Vi-lencia would make a nice name for you. Better than John anyway.” She stumbled a bit over the pronunciation. “Do you want me to still call you John or is Vi-lencia okay?”
That thought scared me a little. “Ummm, I don’t know. I like my name, but I can see how I don’t really look like a ‘John’ anymore.”
She just nods her head in agreement.
I know that I shouldn’t have to ask her, but I do anyway. “Am I really a girl now?” I asked, plaintively with a glance down towards my chest and lifted my head to look lower.
She just nodded at me as she pulled the mirror away and hid it a pocket.
Unable to really see anything with the covers on, I plopped my head back into my pillow with a sigh. “Well, I guess it could be worse. I could be dead.”
I thought that I handled the official news pretty well, but I guess I didn’t because I felt surprised when Kim started dabbing my eyes with a tissue again. I looked up at her caring face and that just made the tears worse as I started to softly sob. I felt like a total wuss. “It’s okay sweetie. Go ahead and cry. I’m right here.”
I open my eyes and my vision is a little blurry from all the tears. “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?”
“You didn’t do anything.”
“Then why am I being punished?”
“John, what makes you think you are being punished? Do you believe in God?”
“Ummm, sorta, yeah. Why?”
“Well, I’m no preacher or anything, but God has a plan for you and it’s not about being punished. That’s not how it works, but it’s up to you to make the most of what has been given to you.”
“What do you mean? I’ve only had stuff taken. What’s been given to me?”
“Well, for one, you’re young again.”
“Okay, but I don’t want to be young again. What if they make me go back to high school?”
“I doubt that they will make you do that, but what if they did? Haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like if you could go back to high school knowing what you know now?”
“Well, yeah, but not as a girl and even worse, I’m a dark elf! I can’t be normal. I am a freak.”
“Stop that right now! You are not a freak and I don’t want to ever hear you say that again! Do you understand me?”
“Yeah, but...”
“No buts! You’re a dark elf. So what. What’s so bad about being a dark elf if you played one in that game of yours?”
“Umm, well, they are supposed to be evil.”
“Are you evil?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then what’s the big deal and don’t elves live a long time? Didn’t they say something about that in that Lord of the Rings movie?”
“Well, yeah. They are supposed to live almost forever in Tolkien’s books.”
“See! There ya go then. You’ve been given a gift.”
“Okay, but I’m a girl.”
She looks down at herself. “And that is bad, why?”
The first three things that instantly popped into my head were peeing sitting down, periods and pregnancy. I must have looked a little funny just laying there with a slightly stunned looked on my face as I tried to come up with a winning argument for each item. There had to be more that just those three that were bad about being a girl, right? If Kim was a guy, those three right there would be the end of the debate. I would win, but I knew that there was little hope of me winning if I tried to use those bad things.
“Ummm, because up until I woke up, I was a twenty seven year old mostly happy single dude? I don’t know how to be a girl. I never wanted to be a girl and I have no desire to learn. I just want to be myself again!”
I couldn’t help it. I started to cry. I felt so damn frustrated, lost and helpless.
“I just want to go home, wake up and find out that this is all just a bad dream.” I said, tears now flowing freely down the sides of my face.
Kim held my hand while she dabbed the tears from my eyes. “Oh sweetie. I’m so sorry.”
“I just wanna go home.” I said, again. I wasn’t very rational, but I am so glad that she was there with me. Just seeing her face and the genuine concern in her eyes made me feel better.
Kim surprised me when she leaned over and gave me another hug. With her help, I managed to bring my tears under control. “Thanks.” I said, sniffling.
“Oh, after all those tears, you must need to blow your nose.” She reached over, grabbed some more tissues and held them over my nose. “Here, blow.” She said, like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do.
“Really?” I asked, sounding all nasally with the tissues over my face. Seriously, I can’t remember the last time someone had to help me blow my nose. Now I really felt helpless, but what else could I do with my hands tied down. She nodded, affirmatively and after a second of hesitation, I blew.
It felt so good to be able to breath freely through my nose again.
Kim smiled at me. “There, is that better?”
“Yeah, thanks, but ummm, when are the doctors going to be around so I can get out of these things?” I tugged my restraints with frustration. I could have taken care of my own nose, if it wasn’t for the damn restraints.
She just smiled at me. “I’ll go check to see if they are available. You think about what we just talked about. You hear?”
“Yes mom!” I said with obvious false gratitude as I smiled sweetly at her.
She just laughed and shook her finger at me sternly before she turned and headed for the door. She glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll be right back sweetie.” She said with saccharine sweetness.
I laughed. “Okay, I won’t go anywhere.” I said as I shook my restraints.
That earned me another smile as she gently closed the door behind her.
There really wasn’t much left to think about. We pretty much covered all the big items already. I sighed with frustration and felt my chest move, but I only noticed it because I took such a large breath. I only noticed my chest moving while I was breathing if I concentrated on it. Since I really couldn’t see my new plumbing, there wasn’t a lot I could do about that right now either. Was being a girl really that bad? Millions and millions of girls somehow manage to get through the day and be happy about it, right? I’m just not sure if I am ready to jump on that bandwagon just yet.
I was just kind of zoning and almost sleeping when the door opened thirty minutes later. It was Kim and she was accompanied by two men and one woman wearing doctor coats over their street clothes. I guessed that these were the doctors who could get me out of the damn restraints.
The woman doctor hung back a little as the two male doctors smiled as they approached my bed. The oldest looking guy plastered on a fake smile as he looked me over. “Hi. I’m Doctor Karow and this is Doctor Morgan.” He introduced the guy standing beside him. “And behind us is Doctor Weisse. So, how is our patient feeling today?”
I hesitated to answer him because I really don’t think that the dude cares how I am feeling today. His obviously fake platitudes are annoying. I glanced over at Kim for a second and caught her ‘go on’ expression. I returned my focus to the fake smile dude. “Umm, your patient is feeling a little tied up at the moment.” I said as I shook the restraints again.
He managed to look a little chagrined by my response. “Well, yes. They are there for your safety, but maybe we can see what we can do about that.” He glanced behind him to look at the female doctor standing next to Kim. “Doctor Weisse? What do you think? Is it safe for the patient if we remove her restraints?”
He called me the patient again. I had a name. It might not have fit my appearance, but anything is better than being just ‘a patient’. I really wanted to yell at him for his crappy bedside manner, but I could see Kim was starting to look a little worried about me. She was giving me the ‘dude! chill’ look with just her eyes.
Doctor Weisse approached the side of my bed and looked down at me. She silently studied me for what felt like minutes, but it was really only ten seconds or so. I started to get nervous and I looked back to Kim for reassurance. It looked like Kim wanted to say something, but all of the doctors in the room made her hold herself back.
Dr Weisse turned to Kim. “So, Nurse Elletson. You’ve spent some time with our patient here. What do you think?”
Kim looked surprised to be asked for her opinion. “Umm, I’m not sure if I’m qualified to make that kind of judgement ma’am.”
Dr Weisse just smiled at her. “Come now. I saw how John looked at you. She obviously trusts you. Do you think that she would be a danger to herself or the staff if we released her?”
I started to get a little worried about that myself. I couldn’t help noticing all the she’s and her’s in that last sentence. Maybe my being called ‘the patient’ isn’t all that bad.
Kim looked back to me while I tried not to look desperate for her to agree that I would be good, umm, girl and not try to freak out again. She sighed. “No Doctor. I think that John is scared and worried about what happened to him, but I don’t think that she would try to hurt herself now.”
Now I was really feeling gender pronoun confused. I was most definitely a girl now. I only had to look in the mirror to confirm what the rest of my body was telling me.
Dr Weisse looked back to me. “So, John. What do you think?”
I glanced back to Kim for a second before returning my gaze to Dr. Weisse. “Umm, well. I am a little, no, a lot confused right now. I really don’t know what to think, but I would like to think that I’m done freaking out over waking up a girl.” Dr. Weisse smiles a little at me and that encourages me. I grin. “Now, the blue skin, that’s a different story. Please tell me that it will wash off.”
She laughs and turns to the other doctors. “I think that it would be safe to remove her restraints.” She said as she walked around to the other side of the bed and started to release my left hand. I pulled it back and smiled my thanks to her as she reached across and released my right hand too.
“Thanks.” I smiled at her as I rubbed my wrists before glanced back to Doctor Fake and Doctor Silent Bob to see what they wanted.
Kim took that moment to insert herself at the side of my bed, closer to my head. “Sorry Doctor Karow. Would you like me elevate John’s bed now so you can examine her easier?”
He looked a little flustered by her question. “Oh, certainly.”
I felt my bed begin to fold forward as it lifted my upper body into more of an upright seated position. I leaned forward a little and my hair fell back behind my head and back. I shook my head and brushed an errant strand back with my hand as I wiggled to try and find a comfortable position with the strange feeling of having long hair pinned behind my back. It tugged and pulled on me every time I moved my head. I managed to do all that while still remembering to not let my bedding fall from covering the new growths on my chest.
Doctor Karow took out his stethoscope. “Okay, umm, John. I just need to check your lung function and heart. If you could lean forward?”
I leaned forward while he had me breath in and out a few times as he listened to my lungs through different spots on my back.
“Sounds good. Now lean back and if you could allow me to lower your bedding so that I can listen to your chest.”
I suddenly felt a little nervous about that. It was strange for me. From my perspective, I have only had boobs for less than an hour now and I was already worried about exposing myself in front of strangers? I glanced to Kim again and she nodded to reassure me. I lifted up my arms and let the bedding fall to my hips while I felt my cheeks turning red from embarrassment. Maybe they were turning purple instead? I don’t know, but as Doctor Karow began listening to my chest I turned and looked at Kim. I felt a little better just seeing her smile encouragingly at me.
“There. All done. You’re heart and lungs sound perfect. You’re one lucky girl. You’d never know that less than a week ago you were admitted to this hospital covered with second and third degree burns over the upper half of your body.” I heard Doctor Fake Smile tell me as I turned to look at him with surprise. Yeah, his bedside manner really really sucked and he must be more delusional than me if he thought that lucky and girl belonged together in the same sentence. I so wanted to scream at him, but Kim’s hand on my shoulder reminded me to play nice with the crummy doctor. Plus, I didn’t want Doctor Weisse to tell them that I needed to be tied down again.
“Umm, thanks Doctor.” I respectfully addressed him instead saying what I wanted to say. “Can you tell me why I turned into a girl?”
Doctor Fake Smile looks over to Doctor Silent Bob. “John,” Silent Bob begins and scores some points for using my name, “the early lab results told us that you possessed the metahuman gene, but the test results also returned some anomalies. We didn’t want to officially comment until we were able to consult with STAR labs.”
“Ookaay...what was so anomalous about the metagene test?”
“I’m not sure that I know how to really explain it, but from what the STAR labs folks reported; it appears that your sections of your RNA are in a state of quantum entanglement.”
“What does that mean?”
“We aren’t sure, but the DMA and STAR labs would like to run some more tests on you at their facility in San Fransisco.”
“The DMA too?”
“Yes. Agent Forsythe from the LA branch along with Agent Helligar from the SF branch are planning on stopping by later this afternoon to escort you to STAR labs for further evaluation.”
“Oh, so I’m healthy enough to leave the hospital?”
Doctor Silent Bob looks at Doctor Fake and Doctor Weisse before he turns back to me. “Yes John, considering the condition in which you arrived at this hospital, you are perfectly and disturbing healthy. I’ll get started on your discharge paper work and have it all ready for when the Agents get here. Nurse Elletson? Would you be kind enough to remove John’s IV and catheter?”
“Yes Doctor Morgan.”
The two of them turned and left my room. Surprisingly, Doctor Weisse stayed as Kim walked over to the left side of my bed. Doctor Weisse just calmly stood off to the side and watched Kim work. I kind of forgot she was there as felt Kim pull off the tape holding the IV to my arm.
“Now, this might hurt a little, but it shouldn’t be more that a pinch as I remove it.” Kim said, smiling at me encouragingly.
I cringed a little as Kim removed my IV, but it didn’t hurt as much as I expected it too. She was a pro and I couldn’t help smiling at her. Next up was the catheter. Kim reclined my bed again and I started to get a little scared. I didn’t know what to expect and this would be the first time I actually felt something down there. I closed my eyes until I felt her slide the covers off my hips and legs. If I still had my penis, I’d be more worried about sporting an embarrassing erection. The feeling of being so exposed and vulnerable took me by surprise.
Kim took one look at me face and stopped what she was doing. She grabbed my hand and leaned in close to my face. She looked so concerned and I felt so small. “Oh, it will be okay sweetie. It’s just a little tube. It will be over before you know it.”
“Okay.” I stammered.
She released my hand and returned to the catheter. “Now, just relax dear.”
I tried too, but I still wasn’t used to the different muscles down there. I felt a slight tug followed by something coming out of me from a place that shouldn’t have existed on me. I think a whimper escaped my lips, but I’m not completely sure. I felt the bedding cover my legs again and then, she pulled me up and gave me a big hug.
“Is it out?” I asked, peering over her shoulder to look at the sheets covering my legs. I no longer felt the tube under my leg, so I guess it was out. I pulled my legs up. It felt strange to feel my skin slide smoothly against the sheets, but it also felt good to bend them for the first time.
“Yes dear, it’s out. You can now enjoy the torture of long bathroom lines and cold toilet sets.” She said with a mischievous smirk as I jumped back with shock.
I laughed. “You big meanie! Your lucky that I respect my elders. If you weren’t old enough to be my mom, I’d seriously consider giving you a piece of my mind.”
She just laughed at me as let me go and walked over to the medical closet. She pulled out a hospital gown and helped me get into the flimsy thing.
It didn’t really cover much. “Umm, I don’t think that I have any clothes. What will I do this afternoon?”
I jumped a little when Doctor Weisse spoke. I kind of forgot that she was still here. “If Kim can help me get some measurements for you, I think that the two of us can head down to the mall and find you a set of clothes during lunch. You wouldn’t mind that, would you Kim?”
Kim looked at Doctor Weisse. “Umm, no Doctor Weisse. I will just need to check with my shift supervisor to make sure it’s okay.”
“Excellent. No need to be so formal with me Kim. You can just call me Cathy. Doctor Weisse this and Doctor Weisse that is so cumbersome.” She laughed. She had a nice and friendly laugh. “I will speak your supervisor and see what we can work out. In the mean time, do you think that you might be able to find us a tape measure or something we can use to get some measurements on John here?”
“Sure. I think we have one somewhere at the nursing station.” Kim said as she headed for the door after a worried glance at me.
I smiled and I saw her shoulders relax just that tiny bit before she left the room, closing the door behind her.
Doctor Weisse cleared her throat to attract my attention. “Well, I see that you two are getting along well.” She said as I turned to face her.
I pulled my legs up and sat cross legged with the covers wrapped around my hips. That position felt so comfortable and natural to me. I remembered trying to sit like that as a guy and it felt like I was trying to force my legs to bend more than they should.
“Yeah, I like her. I feel, umm, I don’t know. It’s like I’ve known her for a really long time.”
“I have to admit John, I am concerned about you and Kim right now.”
“What does that have to do with Kim?”
“I watched you two interact in here and I watched Kim on the way here. She was exhibiting strong signs of attachment for you. Far more than is normal for a typical caregiver and patient relationship.”
“Is that bad?”
She frowned while thinking up her reply. “Metahumans are kind of new ground as far as human psychology is concerned. The exact numbers are hard to get, but with a majority of the emergence's changing sex in the process; I am concerned that the trauma is being brushed aside.”
“Well, from personal experience, I have to agree with you about it being traumatic, but what can anyone do to help me? It’s not like there is a support group for umm, Sudden Gender Reversals. Is there?”
“There is a Trans-Gender community that could be tapped into and there are some parallels to what you are currently going through, but they don’t usually have super powers that can complicate things if they have a hard time adapting to their new gender.”
“Yeah, I guess I can see that.” I admit. “but what does that have to do about Kim?” I’m a little worried about Kim. What if someone tried to hurt her? What if I accidentally hurt her?
“I’m sorry if I am making you anxious, but I have only seen the type of interactions that is occurring between yourself and Miss Elletson on one setting.”
“What are you seeing?”
“I don’t want to jump the gun with my hypothesis just yet, but I would like to help you as much as I can. Is that okay with you?”
“Umm, I guess so, but will you tell me what your hypothesis is?”
She smiles. “I think I can do that. It might be nothing.”
Kim times her entrance perfectly. “Here we go! I found a tape measure for you Valer...ummm.” She stammers to an embarrassed stop as she realizes what she started to call me. “Oh my god, John! I am so sorry.” She rushes over to my side. I dart a glance over to Doctor Weisse and she is casually observing us.
“It’s okay Kim.” I tried to reassure her, but honestly, it did kind of freak me out a little bit. “Not that big of a deal, but what were you going to call me?”
“Umm,” She nervously laughs. “Well, I was kind of thinking about your name and how Vi-lencia sounded and I just thought that it sounded close to Valerie, so...I’m so sorry!” She did look so worried about it.
“Valerie huh?” I said, mulling the name over. It sounded okay. I wasn’t sure if I was a Valerie, but I don’t think that I am really a John anymore either. “Well, I guess we can try it out. It’s not like we can’t pick something else later if we don’t like it, right?”
She surprised me by giving me an enthusiastic hug. “Oh my god! Really? You don’t mind?”
“Well, it is a bit sudden, but umm, I guess I need to get used to having a girls name sooner or later, right?”
“Great Valerie!” She said, happily. “Let’s get you measured!” She motioned for me to get out of the bed.
The name didn’t sound that bad to my ears and it made her happy. I moved to get out of the bed and I paused as I exposed my legs over the side of the bed. They really looked nice to me. Very smooth, shapely and blue. I felt the gown ride up and my backside felt very exposed as I jumped down to the stand on the floor. I stumbled and thankfully, Kim as there to catch me.
“Thanks. My balance is a little, umm, different.” I said as Kim helped steady me on my feet.
“Oh, I wish I had my camera! This is like your first baby steps!” She laughed.
“Ha ha ha...not. Okay, what next? This gown sucks.”
“Lets get you into the bathroom here and have you undress so we can get you measured.” She said, motioning me toward the room’s bathroom.
Doctor Weisse lent us a hand with that and I was both pleased and horrified when I discovered that I was five foot eight inches tall with 34C upstairs, a 26 inch waist and 36 inch hips with a 32 inch inseam. Holy centerfold measurements batman!
Once we had everything written down and I was back into the stupid gown, Kim looked at me. “Is something wrong Valerie?”
She startled me with her question, because I think something was wrong. I felt an unfamiliar pressure in my groin. “Umm, I’m not sure.” I said with a confused expression. “I think that I might have to go pee.”
She stepped back with surprise for a second. “Oh? Well, lets get you to the toilet then.” She helped me sit down on the seat. I didn’t really need her help with the sitting part, but it was still nice of her.
I ended up just sitting there for over a minute with both Doctor Weisse and Kim looking at me expectantly. “Ummm, I’m not sure what to do now. There’s nothing there.”
“Oh, just try to relax your muscles and let it go.” Kim said.
Doctor Weisse decided to step in and help. She tapped Kim on her shoulder. “Maybe we should leave Valerie alone so she can relax. You and I can think about some clothing ideas while we wait for Valerie to get done.” She looks at me. “How does that sound to you?”
“Umm, great Doctor Weisse? I have to umm, wipe when I pee, right?”
Both of them look at each other for a second with a surprised grin before Doctor Weisse turns back to me. “Sorry, The question just took me by surprise for some reason. I know it shouldn’t, but it just seems so basic.” She smiles apologetically at me. “Anyway, to your original question, yes, you do need to wipe. Front to back, not back to front. Just start from the top and wipe down and let go.”
I feel my cheeks warming up from embarrassment. “Oh, thanks. Am I blushing?”
Both Kim and Doctor Weisse smiled at me as they studied my face. Kim shook her head no.
“I can’t tell. I guess that could be one advantage to your skin color.” Doctor Weisse said as they both stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door to give me some privacy. “Just holler if you need some help Valerie.”.
“Okay!” I said while sitting anxiously on the toilet. With them both gone, I lifted my gown and glanced down to look at my girl junk or would it be girl space because it just looked so empty? “How in the hell does this work?” I muttered.
I let out a frustrated breath and as I exhaled, I felt my body relax a little. A trickle began to flow and that helped me feel the muscle that I needed to relax more. I felt the warm glow of satisfaction as my bladder rapidly drained into the toilet. It sounded more like a water fall instead of the stream I was used to and it was over much faster. I felt a little, umm, wet down there. Who in the hell designed this? I gingerly wiped as instructed and I couldn’t help shudder a bit from the alien sensation. If only I didn’t have to wipe, I thought that I might be able to get done in the bathroom faster than before. Was I crazy to think that in light of all the evidence to the contrary?
I stood up, flushed and walked over to the sink and mirror.
“Don’t forget to wash your hands sweetie!” I head Kim yell through the door.
“Yes mom!” I yelled back, smiling. I studied my face in the mirror as I dutifully washed my hands. Yep, blue skin not withstanding, I was a total babe. I pulled my hair back. It liked to keep falling foward and get in my way.
“Umm, Kim?” I yelled through the door.
“Yes?” I heard her yell back.
“Can you bring me some scissors?”
The door opened and she looked anxiously at me. “Why?”
“My hair. It sucks. I know it looks nice, but it keeps getting in the way.” I said with a slight whine.
Kim looked shocked by my simple request. She looked back to Doctor Weisse and she wasn’t much help either. She looked surprised too.
“Don’t you dare! Your hair is gorgeous. Any woman would happily offer their first born child to have hair like yours.”
“Ha! Well that’s an easy one since I totally don’t plan on having any born. Just cut it off please?”
“No can do Valerie. How about I show you how to put it in a pony tail instead?”
“But..” I said, stammering.
“No buts! I’ll be right back. I need to get my brush and a scrunchy from my purse.” She said as she left the room in a rush.
I looked at Doctor Weisse with my mouth open as I tried to form a coherant word. It was my hair. Why couldn’t I cut it and why did it feel like I had to listen to her? Was that why Doctor Weisse was still here?
“What’s wrong with me Doctor Weisse?”
She studied me for a few seconds before she responded. “Have you ever heard of imprinting?”
“You mean like when a baby bird is born and the first thing they see, they think that they are their mother?” I asked.
She nodded her head while I thought things over. I felt confused about how that might apply to me, but at the same time I could kind of see what she was getting at. I did sort of feel sort of attached to Kim. It was a strange feeling since intellectually, I knew that she wasn’t my mom, but at the same time I felt so much safer when she was near me. The ‘safer’ part is what really threw me for a loop. Not ‘attracted too’ or ‘horny about’ or ‘in love’, although, I think there was some love in my feelings too.
Doctor Weisse just studied me as I am sure that a hundred different expressions danced across my face. I was feeling very confused about myself when Kim returned with a determined expression on her face and holding a brush and a scrunchy in her hands.
She faltered and stopped as she noticed my expression. “Valerie? What’s wrong honey?”
I felt an overwhelming urge to hurl myself into her arms. I shuddered for a second as I forced myself to turn away her and look at Doctor Weisse instead. “Holy crap!. I think you’re right.” I walked numbly to my bed and started to climb into it.
“Valerie, Honey. What’s wrong?” I heard Kim ask me with a worried tone. I felt so drawn to her, but I knew that it was wrong. I was just a patient to her. Maybe she really did like me, but not how I liked her. I felt like I needed her to feel her touch. I needed her to just hug me and tell me that everything was going to be alright. Realizing that, I just wanted to curl into a tiny little ball and not have to deal with anyone. “Go away. I’m fine. I just wanna be alone for awhile.”
I flinched when I felt her hand on my shoulder. “Val? What’s wrong?”
“Doctor Weisse?” I heard Kim ask.
“Let’s step outside and chat for a bit, shall we?”
“Is she going to be okay without us here?” Kim asked, nervously.
“I can hear you ya know? I’ll be fine. I just wanna be alone for a bit.” I sounded just like a pouting litlle teenaged girl.
“Come on Kim. She’ll be fine and it will only take a minute or two.”
“Well,” Kim sounded very torn. “if you’re sure. Valerie, I’ll be right back.” She said as she let herself be led out of the room by Doctor Weisse.
I pulled the covers over my body and started sobbing into my pillow. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t noticed it sooner. How could I feel so attached to my nurse? It really felt like she was my mother, but I had a mother, and a father already. Well, maybe I still did. I had no idea what they would react when they found out that their son is now their dark elf daughter. What if they didn’t believe me or didn’t love me anymore? I don’t know how long I cried for, but I also felt so tired and with the covers pulled over my head, I felt my eyes start to droop.
I heard the door open, but I felt too tired to really care. Maybe if they thought I was asleep, they would leave me alone. I was surprised when I felt someone climb onto my bed.
“Valerie? Please, can we talk about it?” Kim asked, softly.
“What’s there to talk about?” I whispered while I her proximity was starting to drive me to distraction.
“About us honey.”
I pulled the covers off my face and looked at her with a mixture of hope and confusion. “What do you mean? Didn’t Doctor Weisse explain this imprinting thing to you?”
“Yes, she did and I agree with her. I didn’t notice it myself until she said it, but I feel so protective towards you. Every time I see you, my heart just flip flops and I find myself just wanting to wrap you up in a hug, but I know that less than a week ago you were a twenty seven year old man. It makes me so confused.”
As I listened to her, I found my eyes drawn to her face. She looked so conflicted and her eyes were so open and honest. She looked so close to tears and like she was holding herself back from hugging me.
“You do?” I asked while I started to feel like shit because she looked so pained. Now I wanted to hug her and try to make her feel better.
Now she started to cry and that broke my resolve. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her as tight as I could while she hugged me back. “It’s okay Kim. Please don’t cry. I’m sorry.”
We sat like that for awhile. I’m not sure how long, but I started to feel guilty because I knew that she had other patients that she needed to see. I reluctantly broke her hug. “Kim? I’m sorry that I’m so high maintenance. Won’t you get in trouble with your boss for spending so much time with me?”
She surprises me by smiling at me. “Oh, it’s okay. Doctor Weisse and Doctor Morgan has already talked to my supervisor. You’re my only patient right now.”
I can’t help myself, I started to smile with what I was sure a silly grin. I felt so happy to hear her tell me that. “Oh! That’s awesome! Now you can cut my hair!”
Her jaw dropped with shock. “Why you little! There is no way I’m letting you cut your hair and don’t you dare cut it on your own! Do you hear me young lady?”
“Ha! Got ya!” I said as I laughed and pointed my finger at her.
“You little...” Kim laughed delightfully as she gave me a quick hug before she hopped down from my bed.
“Now. Let me show you how to put your hair into a pony tail. It’s one of the first things all girls learn.”
“Okay.” I meekly reply.
She started by brushing my hair back and I felt like melting from the sensation. It felt so good. She finished by pulling it back and I tried to see what she did with the scrunchy, but she made it look so easy. Before I knew it, my hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail and best of all, it was out of my face.
She pulled the scrunchy out and handed it and the brush to me. “Okay, now you do it.”
It took me five tries before I was finally able to come close to duplicating her feat. It looked so simple when she did it, but how could I hold my hair tight while wrapping it up with the scrunchy?
Once I got it, Doctor Weisse rejoined us in my room. “Okay, I just spoke with Doctor Morgan. The DMA agents are going to be here at two pm and we need to get you some clothes to wear before that happens.”
I glanced over at the clock and was surprised to see that it was already eleven am. “Holy crap! That’s only three hours away and I’ve never know a woman who could shop for clothes that fast!”
“Valerie! I can’t believe that you think that!” Kim said with a smirk.
“Umm, well it’s true isn’t it?” I asked, my head tilted inquisitively to the side and crossed my arms challenging her to deny it.
She laughs. “You might wanna take that back young lady. After all, I am going shopping for your clothes and I think that pink would go great with your blue skin!”
“Oh yeah. You’re the best Kim! Have I ever told you how much I love...you?” I stumbled to a stop as I realized what just slipped out.
Oh crap!
Kim looked as white as a ghost and I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes.
“I’m sorry Kim! I didn’t mean it. I don’t know why I said it. It just slipped out.” I said in a rush trying to make her feel better. The sight of her starting to cry, started to make me cry too. “Please don’t be mad at me!” I sobbed.
I didn’t know what to do. She hated me now. So I was pretty surprised when I felt her hug me and kiss me on my cheek. “I love you too Valerie.” She whispered in my ear as I froze with shock.
“Huh?” I said, brilliantly.
She let me go and dabbed her eyes. “I think that I’ve cried more today than in the last month!” She laughed. “I can’t wait until you see what Cathy and I pick out for you!”
“Cathy?” I asked as I looked at Doctor Weisse standing silently by the door. She smiled at me.
“Oh. I am so doomed.” I said without enthusiasm as I imagined them returning with mini-skirts and pink baby-doll t-shirts.
“Don’t worry sweetie. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Kim said as she gave me a quick hug before she and Doctor Weisse left the room.
I wasn’t sure what to do now. There was no way that I was going to try walking around the halls with my butt hanging out of the flimsy hospital gown thing.
I decided to just hang out in my bed and watch some TV. I put it on one of the twenty four hour news shows and my eyes started to want to close on me. I snuggled into my blankets.
“Wake up sleepy head.” I heard Kim gently whisper in my ear.
“I dwon wanna...” I said as I glanced over at the wall clock and saw that it was only one pm. I had another hour that I could sleep. I tried to pull the covers over my head.
“Come on Valerie. We got some clothes for you to try on.” Kim said as she shook me awake.
“But moomm!” I said, whining. I felt so sleepy and the bed felt so warm.
“What did you call me?” Kim asked, whispering in my ear.
“Mom? Why?” I said, still not firing on all cylinders until her question registered on me. I bolted upright in my bed. “Oh my god! I’m sorry Kim. I’m a confused mess today.”
She just smiled at me. “It’s okay Valerie. I understand and while I love my boys, I always wanted a daughter.”
I felt shocked and I didn’t know why. I saw her wedding ring, but it never really registered with me that she could be a mom too. “You have kids?”
“Yep! Two boys.” She reached into her purse and pulled out the family photos. “My oldest, Nick, is twelve and the youngest, John, is ten and this is my husband, James.” She said, pointing out each one to me.
I studied each one a lot harder than I would have in the past. I don’t know why it felt so important to me. When women at the office foisted their family pictures off on me, I would only give them the standard polite and “Oh, they look so cute/pretty/just like you.” noises. So, this time when I told her, “Nick has your eyes and John has your nose and they are so cute!” I wasn’t just being polite. It kind of freaked me out.
I looked to Doctor Weisse. “What’s wrong with me? Why am I acting like this? Kim’s not my mom and her family isn’t my family, so why do I feel so attached to people that I don’t even know?”
“There’s nothing wrong with you. You went through a very traumatic experience and Kim was your primary caregiver during that time. In a sense, you were effectively reborn and it is my hypothesis that the close proximity and the care she provided caused a delayed form of Filial Imprinting. What I find most surprising about this is the fact that Kim feels the same way toward you, but again, that is not uncommon either. If the imprinting was only one-sided, then I would be concerned. So, my advice for both of you is to just enjoy it.” Doctor Weisse said.
I looked back to Kim and she looked so happy. I just gave her a hug and it felt so good. “Okay, so what horrible girlie girl clothes did you two pick out for me?” I asked with a laugh. I just felt so happy. It was crazy and maybe even stupid, but if it worked, then it wasn’t stupid. The jury was still out on the crazy part.
Both Kim and Doctor Weisse laughed at me. Kim reached down, pulled up two large bags and set them on the foot of my bed. Before she could really get started, I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. “Be right back, gotta go!”
It was much easier the second time, but I would have been happier if I could have just peed standing up and not have to deal with the cold seat and wiping thing. I quickly washed my hands and fixed my pony tail. It had gotten a little loose during my nap. I felt so excited. I really wanted to see what kind of clothes they got me. Anything would be better than this damn ill fitting hospital gown I was wearing, even something pink.
I nearly tripped when I exited the bathroom and saw all the clothes laid out on the top of my bed. “What am I going to do with all those clothes and how did you get so many in only two hours?” There were at least ten different shirts, four pairs of jeans, two pairs of some white khaki pants, a white with purple flower print sun-dress looking thing hanging off the side, two packs of panties, one plain white set and the other a variety color pack, three tan colored bras of different design, four pairs of shoes, three packs of socks, a small black leather purse and a small pink Hello Kitty rolling suitcase.
I completely ignored everything else. “A Hello Kitty suitcase? Are you trying to kill me?”
“What? It’s cute and it was on clearance!” Kim proudly boasted.
“Yeah, but it’s pink! That’s probably why it was on clearance, because no one in their right mind would want it!” I said.
Kim pouted and gave me the fakiest boo-boo eyes I have ever seen.. “What you don’t like it?”
“Well, I don’t need all these clothes and we don’t even know if they will fit me, so I might not need it. You can take it back, right?”
“Nope. It was on clearance. All sales final.”
“Ah ha! See! Told ya! Even the store that sold it to you doesn’t want it!”
“Well, just give it a try. It really was the best I could find for the price. If you don’t like it, you can always donate it to charity later.”
Now I was starting to feel guilty. She went out of her way to get me some clothes, probably even spent all of her own money and she never asked me to help. Not that I could right now, but once I got to my bank. That could be difficult. I doubt that the folks at the bank would believe that I’m really John Wilson. “I’m sorry. Thanks, but this is way more than I was expecting! I will pay you back as soon as I can get to an ATM. Well, if I can find my wallet. Do you know what happened to my wallet?”
“Sorry, but it was burned to a crisp. We were barely able to find anything in there to use as an ID for you.” Kim said.
“Oh, damn.”
“Don’t worry about it. You can pay me back later or not at all. I enjoyed shopping for you.” Kim said, smiling happily. She reached pulled out a pair of the plain white panties and handed them too me.
I took the hint and slid them on. They fit perfectly and the slight pressure against my girl bits served to remind me just how different my new body was. Even the way they fit and covered my ass felt different, but it was nice to be covered back there again.
Next, she handed me a bra. I retreated into the bathroom to try and figure it out. I’ve removed plenty of my ex-girlfriend’s bras, but I could count on one hand the number of times I was asked to help put one one. So, it was not a surprise to Kim or Doctor Weisse when I fumbled with my attempt to put it on.
Kim came to my rescue. “Here, let me help and show you how they work.” She smiled warmly at me.
“Umm, okay. Thanks. I’ve only taken them off before.” I said, laughing at the thought. I think that she was happy to have someone that she could show how to put on their first bra. We really were imprinting each other like Doctor Weisse said.
She showed me how to adjust the straps to make the bra more comfortable across my shoulders and the trick for reaching behind my back to connect the tiny hooks. The first bra felt too tight around my chest, but my breasts felt a lot better with the support. The second bra felt much better, while the third bra didn’t fit at all. They were all labeled as the same size too.
Kim put the other two bras back in the bag to return to the store. We tried the jeans next and only two out of the four fit me comfortably. Once again, they were all labeled as the same size. No wonder why women take so bloody long to shop. Their clothes are all mis-labeled. Both of the white khaki pants fit, but they were also both Capri style pants and the high-water look was not something I was used to seeing on myself. They did look good on me though. Kim had me try on a set of some plain black shoes with a very small half-inch heal. She called them flats, but oh well. They kind of pinched my toes a little, but Kim said that was how they were supposed to fit. Plus, they were cheap, so it didn’t matter because I would be replacing them with something better the first chance I could. That is what she claimed, but I didn’t plan on wearing anything other than sensible shoes, like sneakers or boots, if I could help it.
She made me try on the sun dress too. It felt very weird to be fully dressed but still have my legs feel so open and exposed. I tried to tell myself that it was like wearing shorts, but it wasn’t. I accidentally smiled when I saw myself in it and I knew that I was doomed to keep it when I saw the satisfied look that Kim gave me.
All the other shoes fit me too. I wasn’t fond of the boots. They had a two inch heel and while they both thought that they looked nice on me, I hated them. The sneakers were great, but the open toe sandal things just looked so unpractical, but at least they didn’t have a heel.
I ended up wearing the black flats with the white Capri pants and after looking over the shirts, Kim tossed me a black baby doll t-shirt that said “Keep out of direct sunlight” on the front. I thought it was awesome and laughed at her joke. She had to show me how to put that on with the long hair and pony tail, but once everything was on, I felt pretty good. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the pretty girl I saw in the mirror, but I liked the clothes that she was wearing a hell of a lot better than the hospital gown they replaced.
Kim packed the rest of the clothes into my suit case and handed me the small purse. I opened it and my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head when I saw the pads and tampons in there. They weren’t the only things in there. I also saw a small girl styled wallet, a silver cell phone, a tube of lip balm and a small cosmetic’s case of some kind, but it was the tampons that drew all of my attention. “Tampons!? The pink suit case was one thing, but this is too much Kim!”
She had to remind me of my situation though. “You’re a girl now. You will need those, eventually.”
Not a battle I could win or something I really wanted to think about right now. “Well, umm, okay, but what about the cell phone? You didn’t need to get me one of those.”
“You might need one. How else can you call me if you need something?”
“Well, I uhh, I could just use my own cell phone. Well, if it didn’t burn up too.”
“Yes, but you need one now and besides, that’s just a pre-paid one anyway.”
“Oh.”
“Plus, I already programmed all of my numbers in there and Cathy, I mean Doctor Weisse programmed her number in there if you need someone to talk too.”
I took the cell phone out and looked at it. It was just a cheapo and basic cell phone. No keyboards or internet on it, nothing but a simple phone, but to me, it was much more. My eyes started to leak again as I thought about what she did for me and all of the stuff she bought for me. Until today, she was effectively a perfect stranger to me and now, I couldn’t even begin to think about how much of a mess I would be right now if it wasn’t for her. Once again, Kim wrapped me up in a hug and I decided right then and there that I didn’t care how anti-male the damn suitcase was, I was going to keep it.
Doctor Weisse choose that moment to quietly leave the room. Once I finally stopped crying, I had to run into the bathroom and umm, freshen up. Kim helped me pack the suitcase with all my new clothes. She also thought to include some smelly soap and expensive shampoo with conditioner from one of those expensive bath boutiques that are a standard mall fixture. There was also a hair brush and a travel sized hair blower in there too. The blower was pink, but I decided to let that one slide.
Kim saw my curious look though. “Hey, it was on clearance too. I swear, you kids have expensive tastes! Just wait until you have to pay for everything yourself!”
I started laughing and she soon joined me. “Don’t worry, umm, Mom, I’ll pay you back with my paper route money.” I said once I could breath again. That thought got be worried though. All this stuff was a lot of money. “Umm, Kim? All this is really too much for me. From shopping with my girlfriend, I know that clearance or not, all these clothes weren’t cheap. All that I really need is what I have on. Why don’t you just take everything else back?”
Kim just smiled at me. “Oh no you don’t! Like I said before, I always wanted a daughter to spoil and while I know that you’re not really my daughter, I still enjoyed having the chance to spoil you.”
I had one last card to play to try and get her to see reason. I tilted my face down and shyly asked. “Umm, what will dad say?”
The expression on her face was priceless. “Valerie Something Wilson!” She tried for the parental three name you’re in so much trouble phrase. “Don’t you worry yourself about what...” She got that far before she lost it and started laughing. That made me laugh. Once that started, it wasn’t easy to stop laughing either. As soon as one of us would stop, the other would try to stop and that caused the one who stopped first to start laughing again.
By the time we had both stopped laughing, we still had fifteen minutes before the DMA agents were due to arrive so Kim took the bull by the horns, me, and drug me into the bathroom to give me a quick class on feminine hygiene with a specific focus on the how and why I needed to know tampons and pads worked. I really wanted to put my fingers in my ears and go “la la la la la” until she stopped talking, but I guess it was better to learn from her versus some stranger. She also took the time to try and have the safe sex talk, but I already knew how the birds and the bees worked. Although it was disturbing to my male mind, I actually thought that some of the female specific birth control information was good to know though. In the end, I really wished I was still a guy. There was just too much to worry about as a girl.
At that point, I realized that I hadn’t bothered to look out the window. It made me wonder if Kim knew something that I didn’t when she got me the “Keep out of direct sunlight” shirt. “Umm, Kim?”
“Ya?”
“Is there a reason that you got me this shirt? Like, did you all keep the curtains closed because the light hurt me or something?”
“Umm, no. We had them open for awhile, but the doctors thought that with your red eyes; you might be an albino and the light might hurt your eyes. Why?”
“I was just wondering. I mean, I do have fangs. It would really suck to walk outside and burst into flame or something.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that, but if you want to make sure, why don’t you open the curtains?”
I actually felt a little nervous about that idea. I didn’t think I was a vampire, but I knew that my eyes were more sensitive to the light. I walked over and peeked out side for the first time. The sunlight felt good on my face, but it killed my eyes.
“Well?” Kim asked, anxiously.
“The sunlight feels good on my face, but it’s killing my eyes. I think I need some sunglasses.”
“Do you wanna run down to the gift shop? They have some cheap shades there that you could buy.”
It sounded like a good idea and I thought that it would be good to get out of the room that I’ve spent one hundred percent of my time in for the last three days. The only thing I worried about was spending even more of Kim’s money and if we had time to do that before the agents arrived.
“Do we have time?”
“We should, but not if you shop like a girl.”
I just stuck my tongue out at her and headed for the door. Kim grabbed my purse off the bed on her way out. “Don’t forget your purse.”
I stopped and looked back at her. “Do I really need to carry a purse just to go to the gift shop?”
She just looked at me like I was talking crazy.
“Fine!” I said in a huff as I grabbed it out of her hand.
I felt a little nervous stepping out of the room for the first time, but the staff never looked twice as we made our way to the elevators. Kim stopped at the nurses station and let them know that we were heading to the gift shop to buy sunglasses and that we would be right back.
The hospital common area was a different story. As soon as I walked out of the elevator, I could hear all the conversations stop as people turned to look at me. I tried to step back into the elevator, but Kim stopped me. “It will be fine honey. Don’t worry. I’m here.”
“Yeah, I know you’re here, but so are they.” I said as I pointed to all the people who were pausing to stare at me.
Kim surprised the crap out of me. “Hey! Haven’t you all ever seen someone with silver oxide poisoning before!?” She yelled, looked around fiercely.
I was surprised that they bought it, but I think that the combination of her hospital scrubs and attitude made everyone get on with whatever it was that they were doing before they saw me.
“Silver oxide poisoning?” I whispered incredulously out of the side of my mouth.
“Hey, it was the only thing I could think of.” She whispered back.
“Is it real?”
“Hell if I know, but it worked!”
That made me smile and we made it the rest of the way to the gift shop with out further drama. People still stopped and stared at me, but with the scowling Nurse Kim at my side, they soon stopped.
I found three pairs that I liked, but it was the black plastic wrap-around frames with red polarized lenses that really caught my eye. They definitely felt cheap, but they also blocked the glare and looked good on me. Two out of three ain’t that bad. It took me longer to pay for the things than it took me to find them. The damn person in front of me insisted on paying with a check, but it worked out because Kim grabbed me a black ball cap with the hospital logo on it.
“Here, this isn’t the most stylish, but it should help with the sun.” Kim said as she handed it to me to try on.
My pony tail made it a little hard, but it was adjustable so I didn’t want to mess up my hair trying to make it fit. I just set it on the counter and looked at Kim expecting her to pay for it.
She just looked back at me and smiled. “What? You have money. You pay for something for a change.”
Crap. Now I was holding up the line. I fumbled for a few seconds opening my purse and digging out the wallet that Kim had so thoughtfully provided. I glanced inquisitively at her as I held the wallet and she nodded affirmatively at me. I opened it and found out that I had a hundred dollars in there.
“Kim! What the hell?” I whispered to her as I took out a twenty and gave it to the cashier who was doing a poor job of hiding her curiosity about me.
“You needed it. Now stop complaining.” She whispered back.
As the cashier counted out my change, I could tell that she wanted to ask me why I was blue. “Silver oxide poisoning. I tanned too much and used too much sunscreen.” I said to her with a hushed whisper.
She nodded and smiled. “Ohh. I was wondering. Sorry.”
“No problem.” I smiled at her and she gasped. I thought she saw my fangs and freaked out about that, but I was wrong.
“Is no place on earth safe from the Devil’s unholy spawn?!?!” I heard a man’s voice yell with evangelistic zeal from behind me.
I turned and saw a six foot something man with long scraggly hair and a three day beard looking at me with anger and hate in his eyes. He fit the stereotypical religious nut to a T and that scared the crap out of me. I backed up and bumped into the counter. I was trapped. I felt so helpless as I watched him reach into his vest for something. I expected him to pull out a gun, but instead he pulled out and brandished a simple silver cross.
“What in the hell do you think your doing!?” Kim yelled at him as she jumped in front of me. I expected it to end there, but it didn’t.
He casually back handed her and knocked her to the floor. “All who stand beside the Devil shall be cast down by the rightous!”
“Kim!” I forgot about my fear and rushed to her side.
She looked up at me and her eyes widened. “Valerie! Look out!”
I started to turn my head to see what I needed to look out for when the nut kicked me in the chest and knocked me away from Kim. He kicked my boob and it fucking hurt. I rolled over and looked up to him. Why in the hell did he have to be so damn big? What happened to those scrawny dudes that rode bicycles around town?
“Demon! Unhand your beguiled servant! For I am the righteous and I will lead your enslaved servant into the light as I cast you back into the fires of hell that spawned you!” He certainly liked monologuing. He held his cross in his left hand like it was a shield and I would’ve laughed at him if it wasn’t for the big ass hunting knife in his right hand.
“Run!” Kim yelled at me.
I ran, and as my feet scrambled for traction on the carpet in the gift shop, I really wished that I had worn the sneakers instead of the damn flats. I felt the air of something passing close to me as he screamed, “Die!”
I already tried that this week. It was not on my to do list. I didn’t know were else to go that might be safe, so I ran for the elevators. Not the smartest plan I could have come up with, but I was scared and I had a knife welding maniac chasing me. There were a lot of people in the hallways, but a path opened up pretty damn fast when people noticed the big nut with the knife chasing someone down the halls and screaming bible verse at the top of his lungs.
Where was a damn cop when you needed one?
I skidded to a halt next to the call button and it was then that I noticed that I was now trapped. The elevators were in a damn alcove instead of a hallway that I could just run past them and through. Oh no, nothing that easy for the doomed star of this slasher pic. I was trapped in a dead end. The only way out was via an elevator or back the way I came. I heard an evil chuckle from behind me. I turned and watched as the nut job casually advanced on me with a satisfied grin. I was still a virgin in this body and according to the slasher film plot rules, I should be safe.
The damn dude started to preach while he walked forward and I retreated to the far wall. I felt so damn helpless. Why couldn’t I actually be Vylencia? This first level Religious Zealot would be paste for her.
I tried to reach for something, anything inside of me that would allow me to cast even the tiniest spell. Nothing happened. I closed my eyes as his presence loomed over me. This was it. Game over.
“Valerie!” Kim yelled from behind the dude. I opened my eyes and helplessly watched as she was held back by some dude wearing a suit. I felt a moment of happiness knowing that she was safe. If she had tried to run past the dude to get to me, she might have been stabbed. I looked back up at the nut job and straighted up. Damn he was big, but hell if I was going to go out as a sniveling girl.
“I cast you back to the hell that spawned you!” He screamed just before he made the final lunge for me.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. Mystique from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler, Joker and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Sorry about the super long delay and the cliffhanger in the last chapter added with the extra long delay. My Whisper revisions and the new parts of that story are taking a lot more work than I expected. Lesson learned, only do one story at a time. Since Whisper is my main focus right now, I am not sure how long it will take to get the next chapter in this story done. I will get this story done though, honest. :) A special thanks goes out to all of the CRU authors for providing such an interesting Universe to play in. Hope ya all enjoy. Thanks to djkauf for editing.
Jenny leans forward as I pause to take another sip of wine. “So, did you blast him?”
I frown at the memory of how helpless I felt. “Nope. I couldn’t. I didn’t have any essence.”
“What!? How could you be out of essence? Didn’t you drink some water?”
I glance at her and smile. “Umm, Jen. You do know that DBO is just a game, right? I mean, if you could really get essence from just drinking some water or get healed by just eating some food, wouldn’t everyone be able to cast spells and why would we need hospitals?”
She blushes. “Oh, yeah. Now that you mention it, it does seem kinda silly. So, how did you get enough essence to portal home tonight?”
I look at her curiously. I know that she has seen me play, but she was never the slightest bit interested in how the game worked. She hated it enough to dump me. So, I don’t understand why she seems to know more about DBO now.
“Well, you did portal home, right?” Jen asks, expectantly,as she ignores my puzzled expression.
I simply nod while thinking about the best way to tell the rest of my story to her.
“Okay, then why didn’t you have any essence when he attacked you?” Jenny looks so impatient.
I simply smile at her. “Do you want me to tell you now or do you want to wait for that part of the story?”
Jen raises her hands in frustration. “Are you crazy!? Of course I want you to tell me! Nooowww!”
I take another sip of wine and look at her with a smirk.
“You’re going to make me wait, aren’t you?” She asks, defeated.
I just nod and smile at her.
“Brat!” She sighs and settles back to wait for me to continue.
**
I have no idea how I was able to remain so calm. I was about to get stabbed by some nut job with a knife and I just stood there. I tried to visualize myself casting Vylencia’s shield spell, but nothing happened. Well, not nothing. I thought that I felt something, but since a shield didn’t pop up to protect me; I couldn’t be sure. I somehow knew that Religious_Zealot_01 was at full health, but he was also less than me, much less. Like maybe he was lower level. He also didn’t have any essence and that he couldn’t have essence. It was like his Religious Zealot class couldn’t use essence. That realization shocked me to the core as I realized that I didn’t have any essence either, but that I could have it. I didn’t see any floating things over my head or his head that displayed all of this like it does in DBO. Instead, it was more of a feeling of some sort. I just knew.
What a time to be OOE!
All of those epiphanies happened during his lunge toward me, but I didn’t really have time to think about what it all meant.
I watched as the knife started to descend toward me in a gleaming arc. All of my attention was focused on that knife, so I was very surprised when his knife hand suddenly spasmed uncontrollably as he somehow lost control over his body. Did I somehow manage to cast a spell or fear him without any essence?
Instead of him plunging his knife into me, his out of control body bumped into me and knocked me to my butt. I scrambled backwards across the floor as I heard a rapid clicking and crackling sound followed by the smell of ozone. I looked back to see Religious_Zealot_01 convulsing in frustrated agony. Looking past him, I saw the two most heroic looking hospital security guards that I have ever seen holding tasers in their hands. Their tasers had wires extending from them and into the back of the flopping like a fish, Religious_Zealot_01. The electrical discharges stopped, but the nut tried to use that reprieve to reach me. Once again, he was stopped by the clicking tasers. I used that opportunity quickly scramble to my feet and race into Kim’s arms as she broke free of the man who was holding her back.
I couldn’t help myself. I sobbed with relief into her shoulder. I could sense that she was slightly injured from being back-handed, like she was maybe down by one percent vitality. In comparison, I was down by two percent from the kick to my chest. My chest hurt, but the pain already seemed to be fading.
I broke the embrace and looked at her face. I could see the red mark just to the left of her left eye that promised to turn into a bruise. “Oh Kim, your eye. I’m so sorry!”
She reached up and touched the side of her face with a slight grimace. “Oh, it’s nothing that a little concealer won’t hide. I’ll be fine. How are you?”
I didn’t get a chance to reply.
I felt a hand grab my shoulder and roughly spin me around and away from Kim. “Are you the one responsible for this disturbance?” A rude person asked me.
Startled, I looked up to see who could be asking such a strange question. It was a very young and fresh faced L.A. Police Officer standing at the ready with his right hand resting on his gun, like he was ready to draw it at the slightest provocation. I couldn’t understand why he was acting like I was the one who just tried to kill someone with a knife.
“What?” I asked him, shaking my head slowly back and forth with confusion.
“Don’t give me any trouble, mutie! Just answer the question!” He growled at me as he took a step back.
I wondered why he was acting like such an asshole. I felt Kim tense behind me.
“Who in the hell do you think you are?” Kim asked as she stepped in front of me and glanced to his chest. “Officer Parks? This is a hospital and this young girl is my patient!”
His gaze shifted to her and I could see what little control he had starting to slip. I was worried that he was going to draw his sidearm any second now. I couldn’t let him hurt Kim.
“Parks!” I heard someone yell just as I was going to try and pull Kim back behind me. I looked over and saw an older looking LA police office standing next to an official looking woman wearing a black business suit. “Stand down!” The other Policeman yelled.
Officer Parks backed up another foot or two as he glanced back to the other police officer and Kim and I. “But Sarge, this one here is a meta!”
I could see the other police officer sigh with frustration. “Rookie! I don’t care if she is the freaking Dalai lama! The report was about a six foot tall, knife wielding freak chasing a meta in the hospital, not the other way around.”
Office Parks finally took his hand off his sidearm, but he didn’t look very happy about it. I felt so glad that the other police officer was there to rein in the rookie, but I wondered who the woman was.
The other police officer seemed to be treating her very respectfully and they were soon joined by large man wearing a black suit. I wondered if these were the Men in Black and if they were about to pull out some red laser pen things to erase our memories. The three of them talked for another minute while the rookie tried to keep up his intimidating posture with Kim and me.
The MIB man and woman shook hands with the other police officer and turned to walk over to Kim and I. The other officer glanced over at the Religious_Zealot_01 and then, back to the rookie. He looked a little frustrated. “Parks! Get your ass over here! Get this nut job to the car and I’ll get some statements while you’re making yourself useful!” He pointed to the still prostrate and very angry Religious_Zealot_01.
I was glad that the Religious_Zealot_01 was handcuffed and still being held down by the hospital security guards. He was still yelling random bible verses about the signs and prophecies mixed in with psalm this and that. He really freaked me out with the amount of hate he had for me. A person he had never met and didn’t even know.
“But sarge...” The rookie officer tried to complain as he turned to follow his orders.
The other police officer wasn’t yelling anymore, but I could still hear him from across the hall as he chewed out the rookie in a hushed conversation. “Don’t but sarge me! I’m getting tired of your shit, rookie. You need to learn to chill out or you will end up off the force and back to busting kids at the mall so fast, it will make your head spin!”
“Yes, sarge.” He muttered.
I stopped trying to eavesdrop on the police when the MIB folks reached Kim and I. They both flashed matching badges of some kind and the man introduced himself. “Hi. I’m Special Agent Forsythe from the LA Department of Metahuman Affairs and this is Special Agent Helligan from the San Francisco DMA.” He said, motioning to the Woman in Black standing next to him. “Sorry we couldn’t get down here faster, but we got stuck on the seventh floor.” He smiled apologetically.
Behind the DMA agents, I nervously watched as the rookie helped the Religious_Zealot_01 to his feet. Agent Forsythe and Agent Helligan both turned to see why I wasn’t paying attention to them.
“Demon!”
I tensed up as the Religious_Zealot_01 made another lunge for me as the rookie loosely held on to him as they started to walk past us. Agent Forsythe intercepted the nut’s lunge and punched him in the gut, taking the wind out of his sails. Both of the Agents glared at the rookie as Agent Forsythe pushed the gasping Religious_Zealot_01 back into his hands.
“God damn it, Parks! I can’t even trust you to a simple f’ing job!” The other officer yelled as he stalked over angrily to his partner.
Special Agent Forsythe turned to the other office. “Sergeant Franks, would you like for me to detail one of my agents to assist Officer Parks with securing the suspect?”
Sergeant Franks stopped midway and smiled. “You know, I think that might work. That way, I can get some good eye witness statements and not tie up folks longer than I have too. Thanks.”
Agent Forsythe nodded and looked at the black suit dude that I had noticed holding Kim back earlier. Black suit dude peeled off to help Office Parks finally get the nut out of here.
Of course, Religious_Zealot_01 wasn’t done making a scene. He insisted on yelling more religious rants about demons, devils and how we are all going to hell. He mostly just made everyone uncomfortable and based upon the glances that I saw, I think people were more sympathetic for me.
I breathed a sigh of relief once he was finally gone. Sergeant Franks walked over and took Kim’s and my statement of what happened. He also took some statements from the hospital’s guards and looking satisfied, he left to talk to the gift shop clerk. He was very polite to Kim and me, and he even apologized for his partner’s behavior.
Once he was gone, Special Agent Forsythe and Special Agent Helligan stepped forward. The Agent Helligan lady looked a little impatient, but she did manage to smile a little as she looked at me.
“Okay. We are already behind schedule and traffic is going to be a pain in the ass, but let’s get you upstairs so we can talk to the docs and get you officially released from here before we leave.”
“Ummm, why would I need to go anywhere with you and where are ‘we’ leaving to?” I asked a little heatedly. The stress of the situation still had me on alert. I didn’t feel too comfortable about the idea of going anywhere and while I knew that they were ‘feds’, I had no idea if I could trust them or not. Kim seemed to mirror my thoughts. I felt her grip on my arm tighten protectively. Like she wanted to keep me from going anywhere with these people.
She looked over at Agent Forsythe. He just smiled at her and held up his hands as if to say, “It’s your show.” She looked back and I could see that she wanted to just get things done. It looked like she wanted to start issuing orders and watch things get done, but she took a deep breath to calm herself. “Look, how about if we take this conversation upstairs? I can fill you...” I think she caught the protective expression on Kim’s face because she stopped for a fraction of a second before she continued. “both in once we get to a more private area.” She glanced around the crowded hallway to punctuate her statement.
I glanced over my shoulder to Kim and she nodded. “Okay. That sounds like a good idea, umm, Agent Helligan?” I said, not sure if I got her name right, but she nodded her acceptance.
“Okay, let’s get back to your room.” She turned and smiled at Agent Forsythe. “The always helpful Agent Forsythe here can hunt down your doctors and get a copy your records while we go over the plan. Sound good?”
I nodded my head yes and felt Kim’s grip relax as we began to walk over to the elevators. Agent Helligan, Forsythe and a couple of other black suited dudes fell in behind us.
Kim handed me my purse, along with the sunglasses and hat that I bought. “Umm, you forgot your purse dear.” She said in a cheerful yet admonishing tone that seemed to say that I should keep better track of my purse.
“Umm, thanks?” I said, not really meaning it as I gingerly held onto my purse. I guess that I looked like the purse was going to bite me, because Kim laughed at me. I still don’t know how or why should would even think to grab that for me before she left the gift shop.
It wasn’t until the doors closed and we began to rise back to the seventh floor that I felt myself start to relax. As the tension left my body, I found myself relaxing into Kim. She squeezed my hand tightly once and smiled at me as I looked over at her to see why she squeezed my hand. I looked back to Agent Helligan to see what she was doing. Her unfocused gazed shifted to me with studied curiosity. Embarrassed, I turned back around just as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened with a ding sound.
Dr. Weisse and Dr. Silent-Bob, I mean Dr. Morgan, were anxiously standing next to the nurse’s station. I felt surprised that Dr. Weisse looked a little distraught until she saw me and Kim. “Oh, thank God!” I heard her say as she glanced up to the ceiling for a second.
Dr. Morgan handed me a clipboard with some forms on it. “Here, sign these please?”
The paper work reminded me of a few things that have kind of slipped my mind. “Umm, Doctor Morgan, do you know what happened to my friends at the show? Did anyone else get hurt?” I asked.
“No, you were the only one who was injured.” Dr. Morgan said.
I felt so relieved. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I have gone through. “Oh, good.”
I suddenly felt very nervous. I know that I’m really 27 years old and a bit too old to be expecting my mom and dad to be here, but I should have heard something from them by now. “Umm, did anyone notify my parents?” I asked.
Dr. Morgan, Dr. Weiss and Kim both look at each other with expressions that tell me that they are trying to hide something from me. Something that could be painful. “What?” I asked.
Kim takes a deep breath. “Umm, sweetie.” She grabbed my hands and looking intently at my face. “Your mom and dad did come, but they left after they saw you change.” Kim said, softly with tears of compassion brimming in her eyes.
I didn’t know what to think. On one hand, I kind of expected it. My dad can be a bit of an opinionated bigot at times. Hell, most of the time actually, and I remembered him ranting about the meta-humans a few months ago. My mom, she is much more tolerant of other people, but she is also my dad’s wife. When he gets into his tirades, there is nothing that she can do to stop him, but she has worn him down on some issues.
“Lemme guess, my dad left swearing like a sailor with my mom apologizing for him as she followed him out?” I asked.
Kim and Dr. Morgan both nodded their heads. Kim wrapped me up with a hug. “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry.”
I returned her hug and I couldn’t help it, I shed a few tears. I couldn’t believe that my own mom and dad had abandoned me while a complete stranger had practically adopted me. Even Agent Helligan looked a little subdued, but I knew that we were on a timetable here. Reluctantly, I broke Kim’s hug and after I wiped my eyes, I turned back to Dr. Morgan.
“Sorry, I do have one more question though. Umm, how am I going to pay for all this?” I asked, looking around the hospital. I really didn’t want to have to pay for my hospital stay. Critical burn units and private rooms are bleeping expensive. I briefly debated if I could sue LexCorp for making such a crappy headset.
Dr. Morgan looked at me with a slight smile. “Oh, part will be covered by your medical insurance and what isn’t, the government has already promised to cover. Right, Agent Helligan?” Dr. Morgan asked.
She smiled and nodded her head. “That is correct.”
I just wondered what I now owed the government because there is nothing scarier than to hear someone say, “Hi, I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
“Umm, okay. I guess that is good, sorta.” I said, dubiously as I finished signing my name on all the forms, my old name. Once done, I handed the clipboard back to Dr. Morgan.
He surprised me by holding out his hand for me to shake. I hesitantly shook his hand and the sight of my much smaller blue girl hand being engulfed in his hand was a bit disconcerting. I was so distracted by that odd juxtaposition that I almost missed what he said.
“I am very glad that you are feeling better and I wish you the best of luck with your, umm, adaptation.” Dr. Morgan said as he gently shook my hand.
That was one more thing that I wasn’t used too. Having my hand gently shaken by a man. Just a few days ago, if a guy had tried shaking my hand like he was just now; I would have thought that he was gay. “Oh, thanks.” I said as I managed to smile, feeling a little touched by his genuine concern for my well being while at the same time, feeling weirded out by it.
Dr. Weisse just gave me a hug. “Hang in there!” She said, whispering in my ear.
“Thanks.” I said, returning her hug.
“Okay, let’s get your stuff and explain what the plan is.” Agent Helligan said.
I couldn’t help not feeling just a little self-conscious as we entered my room. I noticed how Agent Helligan’s eyebrow raised with amusement at the sight of my pink Hello Kitty suitcase sitting ready to go on the top of my bed.
“Hey, it was on clearance.” I said, trying to defend Kim’s purchase while also making it sound like I didn’t really like it that much.
Agent Helligan just smiled at me. “I think it’s cute.” She said.
I didn’t believe her for a second. “Whatever, so, what is the plan?” I asked.
“It is actually pretty simple. I take you to San Francisco for some additional tests at the STAR labs facility while I also get started on getting your new identity setup. Then, after that, and if you don’t prove to be a danger to society, we release you so that you can happily continue with your new life.” Agent Helligan said.
“Oh, is that it?” I asked, suspiciously. There had to be more to it than just that.
Agent Helligan frowned. “Well, you will need to agree to some monitoring for the first few months, just so that we can make sure that you will be safe.” She said.
Ah ha! I knew it!
“Oh.” I said, instead. I didn’t really want to piss her off. Not when it sounded like I might need her goodwill. “Umm, how long will all these tests take and what day is it?” I asked.
Agent Helligan and Kim looked at each other with surprise.
“What? How long was I out for?” I asked, feeling a little worried. What if I had been in a coma for months?
Kim smiled at me. “Oh, I’m sorry sweetie, umm, Valerie. It’s Thursday. You were brought in here Saturday evening.” She said.
I thought I was out longer than that. It’s a little disconcerting to find out that it took less than a week for my body to completely screw the rest of my life up. “Oh, so, umm, Agent Helligan, about those tests?” I asked.
“I would expect that they should only take a day or two, at the most. So, you could be out in time for the weekend and if you don’t mind, I might even have a place that you can stay while I get your paperwork done.”
“How long will the paperwork take?” I asked.
Agent Helligan shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, it usually only takes a week or two.”
I glanced over to Kim; she nodded her head, yes. “Umm, could I stay with Kim instead?” I asked, using my best and most polite voice.
Agent Helligan studied Kim for a moment before looking back to me. “I’d prefer that you were closer, but I don’t see why not.” She said.
I couldn’t help myself. I smiled and found myself happily hugging Kim. This imprinting thing was a real doozy, but at the same time; I couldn’t complain since my real parents had abandoned me.
After some tearful good-byes and a last minute pit stop in the bathroom, I left the hospital with Agent Helligan. Pink suitcase proudly towed behind me. Hey, if you can’t hide it, you might as well make it work. The ride and the company were boring. I was very glad that the back windows were so heavily tinted. The darkness allowed me to sleep for the first two hours. Until, I woke up and spotted a highway sign with a giant and juicy looking burger advertisement. My stomach grumbled after that, reminding me that I haven’t eaten in I don’t know how long.
“Umm, I’m really really hungry and I think I have to pee. Can we stop?” I asked.
“Can you hold it?” Agent Helligan asked, looking annoyed.
“I don’t know? My plumbing is kinda new.” I said with a quick glance down towards my chest. “Plus, I am really hungry too.”
Agent Helligan sighed and turned to the driver. “Fine. Kramer, pull into the next exit.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kramer said.
I noticed Fergusson, the agent sharing the back seat with me, happily smirking. I guessed that he wanted to stop too.
“And, stop laughing back there, Fergusson.” Agent Helligan ordered.
“Umm, yes ma’am.” Fergusson said while trying to wipe the smile off his face.
Agent Helligan sighed and turned her head away to look out of her window, but I thought that I noticed a smile before she did.
**
“Wow! That’s amazing, but I can’t believe that cop was such a dick.” Jenny says.
“Yeah, well, me either, but I guess that if my own parents can hate me, why not a complete stranger?” I ask, shrugging my shoulders.
Jenny places her wine glass on the coffee table and turns to face me. “Do you really think that your parents hate you?” Jenny asks, softly, studying my face intently.
I look down at the breasts pushing out of my dress and my blue, smooth and shapely female legs. “Well, I’m not really their son anymore, am I?” I ask, looking back up to her as my eyes begin to tear up. Growing up, I know that I didn’t always agree with my parents, but I loved them and I knew that they loved me. I still love them and I want nothing more than to hear my mom tell me that she loves me. I can’t really expect my dad to tell me that, but a hug from him wouldn’t suck.
I feel Jenny’s arms wrap around me and I lose what little control I had left. “Why, why don’t my own parents love me anymore?” I ask.
“Shhh, I’m sure they do, but they just don’t know how to right now.” Jenny says, trying to make me feel better as she hugs me tighter.
Surprisingly, her words make me feel a little better and I even find some humor in the situation. I laugh and sniffle a little as my tears stop. “Oh, I’m such a mess.” I say as I give Jenny a quick squeeze and move to stand. The carpet feels so good on my bare feet. Those heels really suck to wear and I am glad that as I walk into the kitchen; I walk like a normal person and not all sexy and sultry. If I turn back into a guy tomorrow, I will never look at a woman wearing high heels the same way again.
I grab a paper towel and wipe my eyes as Jenny joins me in the kitchen. The reminder about food combined with the wine has given me the munchies. I check the freezer and I find some nuke-a-meals along with some steaks in the freezer. The nuke-a-meals would be fast, but the thought of trying mostly fake meat by-products doesn’t appeal to me. The steaks would be good, but they will take time to defrost since I don’t want to ruin them by nuking them. The sight of the steaks makes my mouth water and my stomach grumble, so I grab and stick them in the sink with some cold water to defrost.
Jenny looks at me with a questioning eyebrow. “A little early for steaks, hungry much?” She asks, smiling.
“Umm, sorta, yeah. I think I have some lunch meat and cheese in the fridge, but I’m out of bread. Do you want a snack of some kind? I think I have some crackers here.” I say, as I open my cabinets to find the crackers. Of course, they are on the top shelf and out of reach for my now shorter self. Well, three inches shorter, so not that much shorter, but he damn crackers are still just out of reach since when I put them up there, I had to use my tippy toes a little.
“Who in the hell put them way up there?” I ask, muttering to myself as Jenny giggles at me. I ignore her impertinence as I climb onto the counter top to reach the crackers. I am pretty damn flexible now and it takes hardly any effort to do. I am very sure that I would’ve huffed and puffed to get my slightly over-weight male butt to the same. Not that I would’ve needed too, but just saying.
“Well, that was funny, but you might want to be a bit more careful in that dress.” Jenny says as I triumphantly and gracefully jump down from the top of the counter.
I respond in a very adult manner by sticking my tongue out at her as I walk over, open the fridge and take out the lunch meat and cheese. I begin to cut the cheese and I even refrain from making a crude joke about it as I do so. But I think it, and that makes me smile; glad that I’m still capable of thinking crude guy thoughts.
“So, do you still feel like Kim is your Mom?” Jenny asks from beside me. She has her back to the counter so that she can see my face.
I pause as I consider her question. I answer her question by having my eyes begin to tear up as I turn my head to look at her. I am only able to nod my head yes before I have to reach for another paper towel to dry my tears, again.
Jenny gives me another hug. “Hey, why don’t you use my phone and call her to let her know that you’re okay, right now?” She asks, softly.
“I would, but one, I don’t know her phone number since it was programmed for me as a speed dial. Two, it’s really really late and three, I’m sure that the police would be watching her by now and I don’t want to get her in trouble.” I say.
“Oh, yeah. Good point.” Jenny says.
I resume prepping the snack.
“Umm, if something should happen to you, not saying that it will or anything, but, if, do you want me to try and get a hold of Kim for you?” Jenny asks, gently.
That question makes me reach for the paper towels again, damn it. I feel grateful and ashamed at the same time.
“Yes, please, and can you let her know that I love her and that I’m sorry.” I say before I really start crying.
It takes me less than 30 seconds before I am able to resume prepping the snack track and a few minutes after that, snack tray in hand, we retire back into the living room. I devour over half the tray before I manage to slow down enough to resume the story.
**
Purse in hand, yuck, and sunglasses firmly over my eyes, Agent Fergusson and Agent Helligan accompanied me into the fast food restaurant. Out of habit, I took my sunglasses off after we entered the restaurant. I debated just flipping them up, but then I remembered that I had a purse to hold such things. I tucked them safely amongst the tampon things. The lighting still seemed pretty bright in inside the restaurant, but I didn’t want to attract attention by leaving them on. I mean, except for the blind, movie stars and people who are stoned, who wears sunglasses indoors?
Just entering the restaurant and going right to the restrooms caused a small stir among the few customers who saw me. It made me worried about what would happen when I tried to order some food where everyone could see me.
Agent Helligan entered the women’s restroom with me as Agent Fergusson hovered outside the door. I was a little put off by my first trip into the women’s public restroom. First of all, there were only two stalls and one of those was already taken. The tampon dispenser on the wall was also a bit of a shock for me. I guess that I shouldn’t have been surprised to see it there since the men’s room usually has condom machines, but it was still a not-so gentle reminder of my change in, umm, perspectives.
Agent Helligan was kind enough to let me use the empty stall first, but I think that she just wanted to be able to keep an eye on me and she probably didn’t even need to go right now. The seat was pretty clean. I expected it to need a good scrubbing with toilet paper before I could sit down on it. The men’s seats are always full of pee from jackasses who think they have good aim. I guess that the third time is the charm, because I completed my business with the minimum of fuss. It still felt weird to wipe my girl junk though. Even with a slight delay due to my girl noobieness, I still finished before the lady in the other stall.
“Finally. Wait for me.” Agent Helligan said as she took my place in the stall.
As I washed my hands, I heard the toilet being flushed.
Wow, Agent Helligan is fast!
“Eeek!” I heard a woman exclaim with surprise and it didn’t sound like anything Agent Helligan would ever say.
That made me jump. “Ahh!” I said, turning back to look at who just made me jump. It was the lady in the other stall.
The woman kind of calmed down. I think that my “Ahhing” at her “Eeeking” reassured her somehow. “I’m sorry.” She said, clutching her chest as she started to walk towards the sink.
“Oh, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to scare you there.” I said with a nervous laugh.
She laughed, but she still looked a little nervous as she used the second sink to wash her hands as I resumed washing my hands. She was working really hard to not be rude and stare at me. That made me feel kind of bad for her.
“Umm, filming a movie nearby.” I said, trying to give her a believable explanation for my condition since I don’t think that the silver oxide poisoning explanation would work with her.
She relaxed with a quick sigh before laughing. “Oh, well, the make-up is really good. I’m sorry for being so curious, but are those contacts in your eyes?” She asked.
I totally forgot about my evil looking red eyes. I guess that blue skin, pointy ears and silver hair isn’t that scary to see on someone, but red eyes are like something out of a horror or evil villain movie. “Yeah and I can’t wait to take them out! They dry my eyes out like crazy, but it takes a long time to get them in and the director hates delays.” I said, lying my ass off, but somehow sounding convincing at the same time.
I heard the other toilet flush and Agent Helligan exit the stall with a stern expression on her face. The woman looked over at Agent Helligan before looking back at me with a confused expression. “Umm, lemme guess, she’s playing the part of a secret government agent, right?” She asked.
I couldn’t help it, I giggled. “Yep! She looks pretty convincing when she’s in costume, but don’t let her expression fool you. She’s really a nice person, but she’s also one of those method actors who like to really get into their role to make it more authentic.” I said, using air quotes around method to help sell it.
Agent Helligan didn’t smile, but she didn’t yell at me either. I think she wanted to though.
“Oh, yeah, you’re right.” The woman said, turning back to look at me with a sympathetic expression as she finished washing her hands while I pretended to mess with my contacts using the mirror.
Once the woman left the restroom, Agent Helligan took her place at the sink. “That was pretty good Wilson, but you might want to put on your sunglasses before we exit the restroom.” She said without even a trace of a smile.
She really needed to learn how to relax.
I guessed that since I am now a movie star, wearing my sunglasses indoors wouldn’t be that out of place anymore. The teenage boy behind the register was a little surprised by my appearance. “Movie.” I said with an embarrassed smile.
He gulped with relief. “Oh, okay. Sorry, for a second there I thought that you were one of those meta’s.” He said.
I couldn’t help it, I giggled a little at the absurdity of it all. Here I was, a meta, pretending to be an actor, who was pretending to be a horror movie monster. “Yeah, I can’t wait to get out of all this makeup!” I said.
“I bet! So, what can I get for you?” He asked.
I looked up at the menu. As hungry as I felt, It all looked good. “Umm, I’ll take two quarter pound deluxe burgers, large order of fries and a large,” I heard a slight cough from beside me. “, umm, small coke. To go?” I said, looking at Agent Helligan for confirmation. She nodded her head yes.
“Wow, are ya sure?” The register dude asked.
Even Agent Helligan looked a little surprised by my order.
“Umm, yeah.” I said as I looked over to Agent Fergusson standing nearby. I figured that if I can’t eat it all, he can finish it for me.
“Will that be all, ma’am?” The register dude asked, looking at me.
Agent Helligan stepped forward as I moved to the side to try and get some money out of my purse. Damn purses are so much harder to deal with compared to a wallet in the back pocket of my jeans. “No, I’ll take your chef salad and an orange juice with your light Italian dressing. Fergusson?” She asked.
Now, I felt like a pig for ordering two burgers. I zipped my purse back up and hoped that Agent Helligan was paying for all of us. After Fergusson ordered his food, Helligan ordered a burger and coke for Kramer. Without a word of explanation, she paid for it all using her credit card. I guessed that she was able to expense it.
Back in the SUV, Kramer looked happy to be given a bag with a burger and a drink. Well, he smiled once before Agent Helligan’s expression brought him back to reality. I opened my bag and the smell of freshly deep fried french fries made me gag a little. I held the bag away from my face and gingerly dug my bag of fries out to inspect them. They looked okay.
I took a bite out of one of them and it was all I could do to not spit it out immediately. The fries tasted horrible! I looked over at Fergusson and he was happily munching on his fries.
“Umm, do your fries taste funny?” I asked him.
“Nope, why? Something wrong with yours?” He asked, looking concerned.
“I dunno, they just don’t taste right to me.” I said, holding them away from me.
He reached over, snagged one from me and gave it a taste. “Nope, taste fine to me.” He said.
Maybe it was just the one I tried. I randomly grabbed another one from my bag and it tasted worse than the first one. Frustrated, I handed my fries to Fergusson. “Here, you can have ‘em” I said.
Did they spit on my fries or something in there? I hoped that my burgers were okay. I dug out one of those and carefully inspected the bun and inside to see if I could spot anything that didn’t belong. Nope, the first burger looked normal and the fresh cooked hamburger smelled pretty good to me. I took a bite and initially, it tasted awesome, but after a few chews with the lettuce, tomato and union mixing it up with the bun and the meat, I decided it didn’t taste so good anymore. It took all my will power to not spit it back out.
Now both, Agent Fergusson and Agent Helligan were looking at me. “I don’t know why, but this burger tastes horrible.” I said, trying not to cry out of frustration. I felt so hungry.
Agent Helligan thought about it for a second. “Try just the burger.” She said.
I didn’t know how that could help. If a hamburger tasted bad and the burger part was the main part of the hamburger experience, how could trying just the burger part help? I tentatively took a small bite of just the meat. It tasted wonderful! Maybe a little overcooked, but still wonderful.
“How did that taste?” Agent Helligan asked.
“Awesome.” I said, hoping that my first bite just had a little too much of some seasoning on it.
I tried another full bite of burger and this time, I couldn’t stop myself. I had to spit it out. It was just nasty. “What the hell?!? What is wrong with this fucking burger!?” I asked, yelling with frustration.
I took a sip of my coke and that helped wash some of the bad taste from my mouth. I was glad that the coke wasn’t bad too.
“Hmm, okay, try just that bit of meat you just spit out.” Agent Helligan said.
I couldn’t see how that would help, but I tried it and it tasted great. “Umm, it tastes good. So what is wrong?” I asked.
“Try each of the remaining items separately.” She said.
“Okaayy.” I said, dubiously as I picked out the piece of tomato and immediately spit it back out. It tasted horrible. The lettuce was the same and the bun was just okay, not good and not bad.
“Well, I’d have to say that you are probably now a carnivore. Your tastes and small fangs kind of prove it, but I’m sure we can find out for sure at the labs.” She said before she turned back to ignore me and eat her nasty looking salad.
I quickly separated the meat and the bun from all the healthy salad crap. The non-deluxe and basic burger tasted awesome. I repeated that with the second burger and sat back with a contented smile as I sipped my wimpy small coke. I was still a little hungry and now I wished that I had ordered a third burger instead of the fries.
I must have fallen asleep after that because the next thing I knew, Agent Fergusson was gently shaking me awake. I looked out of the window and I was surprised to see that it was dark outside and that we were parked in front of a large hospital looking building.
I felt great as Agent Kramer opened my door for me and the fresh night air hit me. I couldn’t get out of that SUV fast enough. I felt so energized as I looked up at the partially obscured moon. I couldn’t tell if it was a full, half or crescent moon, but the moonlight felt great on my face. It reminded me of how the first ray’s of sunlight felt after a cloudy day.
Agent Kramer laughed as he took my pink Hello Kitty luggage out of the back of the SUV for me.
“Hey, it was on clearance!” I said, angrily grabbing the handle from his hands.
He held up his hands in mock surrender and smiled. “Whatever you say, ma’am.”
“Grrrr, damn clearance sales.” I said, muttering under my breath I towed it behind me.
I felt a little bit of sadness hit me as the moonlight and fresh night air was cut off when we entered the building. My attention was grabbed by the sight of two more black suited male agents and a female nurse waiting for us inside the lobby area. Nurse Shannon informed us that all of the STAR lab doctors had already gone home for the night, but she had been given some instructions to get some basic lab work done on me and once done with that, show me my room. I saw her smile at the sight of my suitcase, but that helped because she decided that I needed to be shown my room first instead. I decided that I liked her.
The room looked like a standard private hospital room. It had the standard bed and cheap lounge chair for guests, but I was amazed at what else it had. It had a window that looked out over the entrance of the Pacific Ocean to the north and the Golden Gate Bridge to the North East. With the moon randomly peeking through the clouds, I just wanted to stand in front of the window all night, but that was not to be. The lab work needed to be finished first. On the plus side, the room also had a private bathroom with shower. I felt like I could really use a shower now too.
I got stuck with Agent Thompson and Agent Rollins for the night. I was surprised that Agent Helligan thought that I needed two babysitters.
I felt a bit nervous about having my height and weight taken. I know that I’m a little shorter than I was, but I didn’t really know how much shorter. I was a 5’ 11”, pasty white, slightly out of shape geek dude that weighed in at 250lbs. Okay, I was more than a little out of shape. So, I was a little shocked to discover that I was now only 5’ 8” and weighed in at a measly 135 lbs. I guessed that it could have been worse. I could have been shrunk down to the average 5’ 4” female height.
After the weigh-in, she took my blood pressure and entered everything into her workstation. She seemed pretty happy with the results. Not at all like my last visit when my doctor warned me about my weight, cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Next up were the blood samples and she needed to fill three of those little vials. I found out that I seem to heal faster than normal because a minute after my blood was done being drawn, the needle holes were completely healed and undetectable.
The hard part of the preliminary tests was the urine sample because that is when I learned just how difficult it is to pee into a cup as a girl. By the time I finally got the cup half full, I almost wished that one of the Agents could have come in and held the damn cup for me.
After that, I washed my hands, a lot, before I finally exited the bathroom. Agent Thompson took a surprised half-step back as he saw my pissed off expression. I guess that I looked a little scary.
Nurse Shannon surprised me. “Oh, Valerie, you’re done? I was just about to check on you and see if you needed some help.” She said.
“Oh.” I said, blushing at the idea that a 27 year old guy, err, teenage looking girl would need help peeing in a cup and feeling ashamed about it because I did.
“Well, I am guessing that your probably a little new at this, but don’t worry; it gets easier with more practice.” She said with a smile before she continued after a moment’s hesitation. “Well, mostly...”
I frowned at her admission, but at least she was being honest about it. Maybe someone should invent something to make it easier for women to take urine samples because as a former guy, I have to say that guys have it easy. For guys, it’s like, “Wee! Look at me! Oh, all full and done!” but as a girl, it’s difficult, frustrating, embarrassing and messy.
“Well, we are all done for tonight. Want me to take you to your room and maybe have some food sent up for you?” Nurse Shannon asked with a smile.
I don’t think that I really had a choice in the matter. What else could I have done? Aimlessly wandered the halls? Walked down to the nearest mall to get some shopping done? “Umm, sure. Sounds good.” I said as I she stood beside me to lead me to my room. As we walked down the empty halls, I started to worry about hospital food. “Umm, Nurse Shannon?”
“Yes, dear?” She asked, treating me like the teenage girl that I looked like. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. She knew that I wasn’t born a girl, but maybe she thought I really was as old as I looked instead of an adult 27 years old. Of course, I was kind of acting like a girl. Well, not really, but I wasn’t burping, being rude or scratching my butt. Perception is reality and all that.
“About the food, can you have them just send me the meat portions? I tried to eat some veggies today.” I‘m not sure if I should have counted French fries, lettuce and tomatoes as veggies, but oh well. “And they tasted horrible to me. I think I might be a carnivore or something now.” I said.
She smiled patiently at me. “Maybe it was just the veggies. You need your vitamins and minerals dear.”
Yep, she thought that I was really as old as I appeared to be, but I still used my best pleading expression.
It worked. “Okay, I will ask the kitchen to give you an extra portion of meat, just in case.”
Yeah! I smiled.
“But, I want you to at least try your veggies young lady!” She said, sternly.
She must have kids at home or something.
Agent Thompson and Agent Rollins performed a quick visual inspection of my room before leaving me to my privacy. “Miss Wilson, we will be right outside here if you need something.” Agent Rollins said.
“Umm, thanks?” I said but I think that I liked “ma’am” better. “Miss” made me sound so young. I blame Nurse Shannon. Her reactions to me must have rubbed off on the Agents.
As soon as the door closed behind my wardens, I turned off the too bright lights, dug through my purse, extracted my phone and hit Kim’s number. It was a little late at 9pm, but it wasn’t that late. I hoped that I wasn’t waking her up or something. I felt relieved when she answered her phone after only three rings.
“Valerie! I’m so glad you called. I was starting to get worried.” Kim said.
I wasn’t sure how to reply to that. “Oh, I’m just glad that I didn’t wake you up. I didn’t wake you up, did I?” I asked.
I hear a man’s voice in the back ground yell. “Honey, who is it?”
“Umm, it’s Valerie.” Kim said, yelling back and sounding slightly muffled.
“You haven’t told, umm, Dad yet, have you?” I asked, trying to hold back my laughter.
“You brat. I’ll tell him, don’t worry.” Kim said.
“So, umm, how was the rest of your day?” I asked.
“Oh, it was actually pretty boring after you left. How was the drive?”
“Well, I got hungry, talked Ms. Crabby Panties into stopping for some food, found out I hated everything except the meat and the bun and learned that urine tests suck, but my room has an awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge.” I said in a rush of information.
Kim laughed and the sound of her laughter made me feel very happy. She described her normal routine of cooking dinner, feeding her boys, watching some TV and just having what sounded like some good family time together. It made me wish that it was the weekend already so that I could join them. My food arrived about 20 minutes into her description, but I was too absorbed in the conversation to pay attention to the food. I really wondered what was wrong with me, because I actually felt interested and wanted to know about her family. I couldn’t stop asking questions. I asked what games Nick and John liked to play. That question spawned more questions and before I knew it, it was really late.
“Honey, it’s time for bed.” I heard a man’s voice say on Kim’s end.
“Okay Dear, I’ll be right there.” Kim said.
We talked with each other for another 30 minutes before Kim finally started yawning and I felt guilty for keeping her away from her husband.
“Well, I need to get to bed, Valerie. Call me tomorrow as soon as you can. Love you.” Kim said.
“Yes, Mom. I love you too. Night.” I said, softly as the wonder of it all soaked in and made me really miss her. I never had a brother or sister. I wondered what it would be like to have two younger brothers to spoil and play video games with.
The food was cold as I lifted the cover. There was a serving of peas with some mashed potatoes and two chicken breasts covered with gravy. I dubiously tried a pea and it tasted so bitter and nasty. I devoured the chicken breasts though. The mashed potatoes, I was only able to eat half of those and only with copious amounts of gravy.
My phone beeped at me and curious, I checked it out. It was a text from Kim. “I told Jim. Was tuff @ first, but we will all come up to get u. <3 Kim.”
I immediately texted back, “:) <3 u 2 Valerie” Then, I hugged my phone and cried on my bed for at least 10 minutes. When I finally managed to stop crying, I clutched my phone firmly in my hand, in case Kim sent me another text, and walked over to look out the window. The clouds had broken up some and I was able to see more of the moon. It was a half-moon and the light made me feel so relaxed and at peace. The damn guest chair was heavy, but I managed to push it over to the window. Hugging my phone, I made myself comfy in the chair and just stared up at the moon lost in thought for an hour before I remembered that I wanted to take a shower.
I extracted the shampoo, conditioner and special girl soap with vital moisturizers and vitamins for my skin. I almost only grabbed the shampoo, but I remembered that my wonderful ex-girlfriend always used conditioner in her hair and would complain when she ran out.
**
“You’re laying it on pretty thick there, Ally!” Jenny says, trying to not laugh.
“Well, you do use conditioner when you wash your hair, right?” I asked, tilting my head to the side and smirking at her.
“Why, yes, yes I do. So, how long was your first shower?” Jenny asks with an evil grin.
That takes the wind out of my sails. “Umm, I don’t remember?” I say, mumbling before I jump up and run into the kitchen. “Oops! Gotta check the steaks!”
“Ally! Get back here! You didn’t answer my question.” Jenny says, yelling with exasperation.
The steaks are about half defrosted, but Jen corners me in the kitchen. “Well? How was your first shower?”
“Jen!” I say, indignantly as I cross my arms. “It was just a shower, honest!”
“Oh no, it wasn’t. I can tell. There is no way that you could take just a shower with a body like that. At least not the first time.” Jen says, with her hands on her hips. She really looks serious about this.
“I really don’t want to talk about it.” I say, looking down at the floor full of embarrassment.
“Was it that nice?” Jen asks, completely relentless.
I start to cry and Jenny finally starts to understand that I’m not at all comfortable with this topic and maybe my shower didn’t go like she is expecting.
“I’m sorry. I just assumed that, you know.” Jen says as she hugs me.
“I couldn’t touch myself. My, umm, breasts, my legs, my butt, my umm, you know, my own skin. Everything felt so strange, so sexual and so very wrong. I felt like I was a pedophile in my own body. I got my hair wet, saw and felt the warm water running over my sexy smooth skin and I couldn’t go any further...” I say, through my tears as I cry on her shoulder.
“Oh Ally, I’m so so sorry. I didn’t realize how hard it could be.” Jen says as she alternates between stroking my hair and hugging me as I sob on her shoulder.
We stand in the kitchen for I don’t know how long before I finally stop crying. My emotions swing in the total opposite direction in an instant and a giggle escapes me.
Jenny holds on to my shoulders as she stood back to study at my face. “What?” She asks.
“I stink and I really need to take a shower, now.” I say, softly as another giggle escapes from me.
Jenny smiles and gives me another hug. “I’ll help!” She says.
My head almost explodes at the thought of having Jenny in the shower with me. Our naked bodies soaping each other up and giggling as we help each other get clean. “Really?” I ask.
“Well, I’ll stay in the bathroom with you. Why? What were you thinking?” Jenny asks with a knowing smirk.
“Oh, umm, you know, nothing.” I say, feeling myself blush and doubly glad that my blue skin doesn’t show blushes.
Jenny starts to laugh and I can’t stop myself as I join her.
“Come on, let’s get you in the bathroom and get you out of that dress.” Jen says as she pulls me towards the bathroom.
I completely forget that if I take off my dress and get into the shower, she will see me naked.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. Mystique from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler, Joker and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note: Okay, this one sneaked out. I sorta got in the zone. Sorry, Whisper fans. Feel free to post a comment or two or three, good or bad. It all helps. A special thanks goes out to Lilith and all of the real CRU authors for providing such an interesting Universe to play in. Hope ya all enjoy. Thanks to djkauf for editing and my beta-readers for their advice. Any parts that stink are all my fault. Enjoy!
“Oh, wait. You probably don’t have anything to wear or conditioner for your hair. Lemme run out to my car and grab my gym bag real quick.” Jen says as she stops, turns, grabs her car keys and runs out of my apartment.
“Umm, okay, thanks.” I say without much enthusiasm. Conditioner is kind of a strange thing for her to be worrying about.
I’m not really sure that I am ready for this. Yes, I do need a shower. I really do, but it is easier to ignore my body when I’m not actively thinking or seeing it. I know that I am a total babe, but I also know that I look like total jail bait too. You know, the girl that claims she is 18, but the guy who believes her and bangs her gets stuck as a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. In my head, I’m that creepy pedophile guy, but I’m not because I am really the girl and now I’m completely confused.
Jen comes back with her gym bag in hand and smiling. “Here we go! I even have fresh clothes in here instead of the usual...” She says, trailing off as she notices my lack of enthusiasm. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Umm, I’m not sure that I am really ready for this, but at the same time.” I gesture to my body. “This is really my body and not some underage girl’s body.”
“Oh, well, I have an idea or two that might help and I will be there with you. I mean, not in there with you because that would probably be even worse, but you know?” Jen says, smiling encouragingly.
I’m still not sure why she is being so supportive to her ex-boyfriend, but I would be totally lost without her here. “Okay, I guess we can try this.” I say.
“Awesome! Now, let’s get you into the bathroom and get started.” Jen says, holding up and shaking her gym bag.
We enter the bathroom together where she unzips her bag and pulls out a bottle of body wash and a thick and soft looking wash cloth. “Okay, strip.” She says.
“Umm, I can’t. The zipper is stuck.” I say.
Jen sighs. “Okay, turn around.” She says. She quickly unsticks the zipper and helps me out of my dress.
As I stand there wearing only my blood stained white bikini bottoms, she puts my dress in the sink and begins to fill it with cold water. The cooler air causes my nipples to pop out and feeling self-conscious about it, I cross my arms to cover my breasts. I’m not sure why she is trying to save the dress; I would rather we just threw it away, but I guess I will need something to wear.
“Okay, bikini too.” Jen says.
I hesitate for a second as she calmly looks at me. I don’t see a bit of sexual interest or mockery in her eyes. She’s acting very businesslike and I find that reassuring.
“Okay.” I say as I slip the bikini off while keeping my attention focused on Jen in an effort to avoid thinking about what I am doing. I hand them to her and re-cover my breasts with one arm while using my hand in an attempt to cover up my groin without actually touching my groin.
Jen studies me in silence for a few seconds and I begin feel a little uncomfortable. “What?” I ask.
“Just trying to decide on the best way to approach this. I’m not a psychologist or anything, so I’m just not sure, but here it goes.” Jen says, handing me the washcloth and bottle of body wash. “Now, turn around, lemme get your pony tail.”
Washcloth and body wash in hand, I turn and face the tub so Jen can undo my pony tail. She quickly undoes it and I feel my hair against my shoulders and back.
“Okay, now hop in the tub.” Jen says.
I’m not sure how this is going to work. I step partially into the tub and glance back towards Jen.
“Go on. It’s just a bathtub. It won’t bite.” Jen says.
“Okay, okay.” I say, frustrated with myself. There is no way that I am going to let Jen see me be afraid of my own body. I quickly close the shower curtain and start the water. I close my eyes and let the hot water beat against my back. This feels pretty good.
“How’s it going in there?” Jen asks.
“Umm, okay so far.” I say.
“Good. Now try using the washcloth instead of your hands to wash yourself. It will help exfoliate your skin and I think that it might help some with your little problem.” Jen says.
“Okay.” I say as I reach down to grab the bottle of body wash and the washcloth. The sight of my smooth wet skin and shapely legs cause me to pause. This is so weird. It might not be so bad if my skin wasn’t blue. The extreme difference just draws my eyes and makes me notice the differences even more.
“Grrr.” I say and force myself to get the job down. I soak some body wash into the washcloth and start scrubbing my skin. Hmm, this isn’t so bad and it kind of feels nice.
“So, after your shower failure, what did you do?” Jen asks.
I got out of the shower as fast as I could without falling on my butt, grabbed a towel and with my eyes firmly closed, I dried myself off. Once dry, I quickly pulled on a fresh pair of panties and realized that I forgot to bring a fresh pair of clothes into the bathroom with me. I sighed with frustration and pulled my old shirt over my head. I had to pull my long wet hair out from the back of my shirt and cursed the fact that I got it wet because I had no idea what to do with it now, but I knew that it was a bad idea to put wet hair up into a pony tail.
I debated putting my dirty jeans back on, but I decided to just take my chances. Instead, I walked out of the bathroom wearing only panties and my dirty shirt as I padded over to my suitcase to find something to clean to wear. I pulled out a clean shirt, a pair of jeans, a bra and snuck back into the bathroom to change after a quick glance at the door to make sure no one was peeping.
No one was, at least not when I checked. I managed to put on the bra without too much trouble. Kim’s bra training helped a ton and the rest of the clothes worked like I expected them to work. The wet hair was really getting on my nerves, so I walked back and grabbed the hair dryer and a brush from my suitcase before returning to the bathroom.
My hair was a mess after I got done with it, but after a few tries; I was able to put it up into a decent pony tail so it didn’t matter. It was dry and that was the important part. Once done with that, I decided to grab my phone, just in case Kim tried to get a hold of me, and relax in the chair. That lasted for ten minutes before I decided to climb onto and sit on the windowsill so that I could watch the Golden Gate Bridge better.
As I gazed at the bridge in the distance, the moon came out from behind the clouds and I felt myself relaxing even more as I let my mind drift. As I drifted lazily from one minor thought to the next, I felt the moonlight against my skin. It felt like the warming rays of the sun instead of moonlight. After about 15 minutes, I realized that I was also feeling something else. I felt full and not food full either. I bolted upright as I realized what I was full of.
I was now full of Essence.
“Wow, really? It’s moonlight that gives you Essence?” Jen asks, jolting me out of my story.
I am surprised to discover that except for my face and hair, I have washed my entire body. I even realize that I washed around the outside of my vagina without even noticing it. Hey, that wasn’t so bad.
“Yep. Thanks for distracting me, Jen.” I say as I add some fresh soap to my washcloth and gently massage my face clean.
“Hey, no problem, Ally. I have your dress and bikini clean. Glad they are white. I was able to use some peroxide to help get the blood stains out. Next, I will toss them in the wash for you.” Jen says.
“Oh, okay, but you didn’t have to. I don’t plan on ever wearing that dress again.” I say just before I rinse the soap off my face.
Jen laughs at me. “You never know and it is a cool dress. Would hate to see it go to waste and just get thrown away. You okay in there? I wanna toss this in your washer real fast.” Jen says.
The water feels pretty good against my skin and it is really nice to feel clean. I can’t believe that I was being such a big baby about it. “Yeah, I’m good. Just need to wash my hair now.” I say.
“Good. Here, use this first, then the conditioner.” Jen says as she reaches through the curtain to hand me her bottle of girl shampoo.
I know the answer, but I can’t resist asking. “Can’t I just use my stuff?” I ask.
“No.” Jen says.
“But, it’s shampoo plus conditioner. All the clean in half the time!” I say, mimicking a TV commercial voice.
“Ally...” Jen says, dangerously as she peeks into the shower and makes it a point to hand me her bottle of conditioner.
“Hey! Naked in here!” I say as I futilely attempt to cover myself up.
“Umm, duh and pfft, nothing that I haven’t seen.” Jen says as she sticks her tongue out at me before she closes the curtain back up.
“I still hate you. It’s just not fair.” Jen says as she leaves the bathroom.
The shampoo smells good and I reluctantly smile as I work it into my hair. Jenny returns just in time for me to start with the conditioner. It smells all girly and nice too, so I decide to whine a little just to stay in character. I can’t have Jen think that I actually like this stuff.
“Jen, don’t you have any unscented stuff. All this stuff is going to make me smell all girly.” I say with a calculated amount of whine added to my voice.
“Good.” Jen says not falling for my trap. “How’s the water feel?”
“Good. Can I rinse this smelly conditioner crap out yet?” I ask.
“Yep. Now, what happened after you discovered that you were full of Essence? Did you cast any spells?” Jen asks.
As soon as I realized that I was full of Essence, I tried to cast my shield spell, but nothing happened. I tried mimicking a dramatic pose as I whispered, “Shield!”. Nothing again. Well, Vylencia never said anything when she cast spells in DBO. What was I doing wrong? I tried something simpler, like my Create Food spell. Nothing. Levitate, nothing again. Not even a smidgen of something.
“Damn it!” I said with a frustrated whisper as I desperately tried to figure out what I was doing wrong.
Okay John, focus, breath, be the spell, na na na na. Okay, breathe out and Levitate!
“Fuck!” I said with a frustrated growl as nothing happened, again.
I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I had to be able to cast something. Why else would I have Essence if I couldn’t do anything with it? I tried everything and every way I could think of to cast a spell, but after 10 minutes of failing to achieve even a glimmer of a spell, I gave up and plopped back down into the chair. I felt just more than a little pissed as I crossed my arms over my chest, ignored the strange sensation and glared up at the moon.
There was only so much time that I could waste feeling angry at the moon before I got bored. I wasn’t a bit tired so going to sleep wasn’t an option. I wished that I had something to do or read. Hell, even a magazine would be nice to have. I sighed as I got up to check my suitcase with the faint hope that Kim snuck a magazine or book in there for me.
She did and when I pulled out the Cosmopolitan magazine, I was initially a little pissed at her sense of humor. Why in the hell would I want to read that drivel? How to please your man? Really? I pulled it out anyway and underneath it was a Car magazine. Sweet! A review of the new Subaru WRX!
By the time I was done with that, it was only 1am and I still felt wide awake. I guessed that sleeping in the car was a bad idea. I was going to be totally worthless tomorrow and even worse, the only magazine I had to read now was that Cosmo thing. I glared at it as it lay on my bed, mocking me with its photo shopped cover model and sappy headlines. I looked over at the door and debated checking with the Agents guarding the door if they had any magazines. I glanced back at the offending magazine.
“Screw it!” I said with a whisper as I jumped down from my bed and stalked barefoot to the door.
As I quietly opened the door, Agent Rollins turned his head to look at me. “Sorry, but I can’t sleep. Are there any magazines out here that I can read?” I asked.
He nodded his head and pointed out to the lobby area. “Here, I’ll show ya.”
Agent Thompson was relaxing on one of the couches and there were some magazines spread out on the table in front of him. He calmly opened his eyes for a second before closing them again as I grabbed the top two magazines; a Guns & Ammo and a one month old Newsweek. Nice, I hadn’t read a gun mag since high school.
“Thanks.” I said, whispering to Agent Rollins as he walked or escorted me back to my room.
He just played it cool by nodding at me.
The gun mag took 30 minutes and the article about how to refurbish an M1911A was actually pretty interesting since the author was some ex-Navy Seal and he covered some of that pistol’s history. The Newsweek mag got me to 2:30 am and I still wasn’t tired.
“Oh, what the hell?” I asked with a frustrated whisper as I picked up the Cosmo mag.
It was pretty damn funny. What your guy is really thinking. Really? No, he’s not thinking that. He’s thinking, “Why in the hell are you asking me that?”, but he’s not going to tell you that. Well, not unless he’s a moron.
I started reading the article about how to pick the perfect bikini for your body because of the pictures and the next thing I knew, someone was rudely waking me up and the light in the room was set to blazing sun intensity levels.
And now the water is starting to get cold. “Crap, I’m turning into a prune in here Jen, but the water feels so good.” I say as I quickly turn off the water.
Jen laughs. “Told ya. I have a towel ready for you.” Jen says.
I open the curtain and Jen hands me my extra large beach towel. “Wrap this around you and I’ll help you with your hair.” Jen says.
I dry myself off a little before I wrap it around my chest, girl style. Well, I have breasts now, so it’s what I have to do, right? I glance at Jen, expecting her to say something about it.
Jen doesn’t comment on my girl towel style.
“Okay, now stand in front of the mirror and watch what I do while I work on your hair. You’re lucky that I wasn’t able to work out yesterday since I normally don’t leave my gym stuff in the car.” Jen says as she plugs in her hair dryer.
My hair is still dripping wet as Jen combs it all straight back. Then, she takes a regular sized towel and wraps my hair into it and gives it a few twists. Finally, she combs it again and starts to use the hair dryer with a brush. It feels kind of good to have her brushing my hair. I can see why women like going to hair salons so much now and why they pay so much just to have their hair cut. I’m paying very close attention to everything she is doing since she’s not going to be there all the time. She catches me watching her and flashes me an encouraging smile.
Jen turns off the dryer and turns to me. “Okay, You’re hair is absolutely beautiful, but I know that you hate having it all loose, but I don’t think that you should put it in a pony tail right away.” She says.
I twist my head back and forth. With Jen’s work, my hair doesn’t seem that out of control. “Okay, I guess I can try it for a little while.” I say.
“Awesome!” Jen says smiling at me as she digs into her gym bag.
I watch her as she pulls out a pair of black thong panties. “Umm, you’re not thinking that I’m going to wear those, are you?” I ask.
“What? They’re clean and I know you liked it when I wore these, but I guess if you want to go commando, then okay.” Jen says as she turns to put the offending item back in her bag.
She’s right; I did like it when she wore them. They looked hot on her, but I’m not so sure I want to have a string up my crack. On the other hand, I’m also not so sure that I feel all that comfortable with going all tous naturels or however the French pronounce that.
Jen pulls out a pair of stretchy workout pants and holds them out to me. “Here ya go, these are supposed to be one-size-fits-all, but they might be a little revealing in your new vagina area.” Jen says glancing meaningfully down at the general area of my towel covered crotch.
“Fine! Hand me the panties.” I say defeated. “And don’t gloat!”
Jen hands me the thong without smiling, but I can tell she is laughing her ass off inside. It isn’t too hard to figure out which side is the front, but I’m still not happy about this idea. I slide them up and snug them into place. The sensation of having a string in my crack is extremely weird, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Next, I drop the towel and I slide on her black stretchy workout pants. They look really good on me.
Jen pulls out her sports bra and after looking it over; she drops it back into her bag. “Okay, I am pretty sure that my sports bra would just hurt you, so I’m afraid that you’re going to have to go bra-less for now.”
“Umm, okay.” I say not feeling all that bad about not having to wear a bra. They can be a real pain in the chest. Especially if you fall asleep while wearing one.
Jen hands me a dark purple zip up hoodie sweat jacket. “Here, put this on.”
I put it on and it’s a little snug across my chest. Jen unzips it a few inches, exposing some of my cleavage and relieving some of the tightness at the same time. Jen brings her bag with her back into the living room while I check on my steaks.
They are defrosted, but now I don’t know if I want to cook them. It’s almost 3 AM and I am surprised that Jen is still awake. Heck, I’m still kind of surprised that she’s even here. Well, it will only take me a few minutes to cook them, I am still hungry and they do look really good with all that blood in the bag.
God, I really am a carnivore, but at least I’m not a vampire. “Umm, Jen, do you want a steak?” I ask, raising my voice so that she will hear me from the kitchen.
Jen walks into the kitchen. “No thanks. I’m not so sure that a steak at three in the morning is a good idea for me.”
“Actually, I am surprised that you haven’t already fallen asleep yet.” I say as I make it a point to look at the clock.
“Well, I am a little tired, but I really wanna hear your story. I am also a little disappointed in you.” Jen says with a smirk.
“What? Why?” I ask feeling a little concerned. I know that she’s not really serious, but what if she is?
Jen giggles at my reaction. “I can’t believe that you feel asleep while reading a Cosmo! Now, how will you find out what kind of bikini to get?” She asks.
“Ha Ha, not.” I say as I stick my tongue out at her before I turn back to get to work on the steaks.
“You know? I am kind of surprised that you read that gun magazine. I mean, I didn’t realize that you were a gun nut.” Jen says, sounding surprised.
“Oh, I’m not a ‘gun nut’. Hell, I don’t even own a weapon, but I have played a ton of shooter games and my friend, Jason, has a few pistols. We went shooting a few times and it was kind of fun.” I say as I open the steak package and drain the blood down the sink. I can smell the blood and it makes my mouth water.
“Okay, I guess so, but I still don’t see how the article about that M1911 gun thing didn’t put you to sleep.” Jen says with a dismissive wave of her hands.
“It’s an M1911A1 and it is not a ‘gun’. Those so called ‘gun nuts’ really hate it with you refer to their pistols or rifles as ‘guns’.” I say with a sharp glance over my shoulder.
“Fine, the pistol thing. Now, tell me more while you work on those steaks.” Jen says as she leans up against the counter and crosses her arms impatiently.
The damn light was too ‘effing bright. Who in the hell decided to turn them on at this time of the night? “Go away; it’s too early, turn off the lights.” I said as I tried to bury my head under the pillow in an attempt to block the light.
“Come on, Miss Wilson, it’s eight, we need to draw some more blood before you eat and the doctors are anxious to get started.” A woman’s voice said encouragingly.
The eating part helped rouse me, a little, but I felt so tired and my breasts felt like they were being squeezed in a vice. I didn’t realize that falling asleep wearing a bra would be so uncomfortable. “Uhhhgg. Can you turn off the light? Too bright.” I asked.
“Okay, lights off.” The woman said from the other side of the room.
I tried to open my eyes and it was still too bright. The sunlight pouring into the room was painfully bright. “Curtains too?” I asked as I hunted for my purse while squinting my eyes. I put on my sunglasses as the woman closed the curtains for me.
“Thanks.” I said as I finally got a better look at her. She was wearing light blue scrubs, had long curly black hair and looked like she was in her mid-twenties. I thought that she was very pretty and almost too young to be a nurse.
“Are you a nurse?” I asked. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but in my defense, I was pretty tired. I knew that a nurse didn’t have to be in their thirties or forties, but since I woke up; all my nurses had been older and more experienced looking.
She smiled and laughed at me. “Of course, why else would a girl be caught dead in these ugly powder blue things?” She asked, tugging on her pant legs.
I didn’t know what to say. My brain was still moving like pond water, I really needed to adjust my bra and I needed to pee. “Okay, umm, I have to pee.” I said as I trudged like a zombie toward the bathroom.
“Oh! Hold it for a second. I’ll grab a sample jar. We need to get another urine sample.” She said way too cheerfully.
I groaned and decided to try and adjust my bra while also trying to avoid peeing in my pants. I did manage to fix my bra, but I saw in the mirror that my hair was a disaster and my blood red eyes were not helping me feel more alive either.
The smiling nurse tapped on the open bathroom door and handed me the dreaded plastic sample jar. “Here you go!” She said.
I was able to spot her name on her employee badge. Stephanie Grainger is what her badge said her name was, but I was too tired to bother trying to be nice and use her name. I grumpily grabbed the jar from her hand and stumbled over to the toilet. I just wanted to pee without making a mess all over myself. Why did they need another fucking urine sample from me? Yes, I was feeling just a little bit crabby, sorry.
I tried to be careful, but I still got pee all over my hand, damn it. I decided right there, that the first chance I got, I would totally invent something that I could use to pee standing up again. If I did that, I could be a millionaire, because why wouldn’t every woman want to be able to pee standing up?
After I washed my hands, I decided to wash my face to help get the sleep out of my eyes and wake me up. I felt a little more alive after that, so I fixed my hair as best I could since I messed it up last night with my aborted shower attempt.
The way too cheerful and young nurse decided to try and befriend me with girl talk. “Oh, hey, I just got that Cosmo. Isn’t the story about what your man is really thinking the best?” She asked.
I couldn’t believe what she just asked me that. That story was pure crap. “Umm, not really.” I said looking at her and glad that I had my sunglasses on so that she couldn’t see the disdain in my eyes.
“What? I never knew that when my boyfriend doesn’t hold my hand tight, that it means he isn’t interested me anymore.” She said with total conviction.
I just wished that she would stop talking. I’ve already had a bad morning and I can’t see how it’s going to get any better. “That’s bullshit. It means that he’s tired of holding your hand for hours on end.” I said, probably a little more negatively than I should have.
She looked a little shocked at my reply and that made me start to feel a little guilty. “Look, Stephanie? I’m sorry. I’m really really tired and not only that, the last few days have really sucked for me. I got the shit shocked out of me and almost died, but instead of dying, I somehow got turned into a fucking girl. Not just any fucking girl, but a 16 year old Dark Elf jail-bait hottie. My own damn parents walked out of the hospital and abandoned me, and to add insult to injury, some wacko with a big ass knife tried to kill me yesterday.” I said as my voice got louder from all the hurt, anger and frustration while poor Stephanie stood rooted in place with shock and maybe a little bit of fear.
I had been trying to not call attention to the fact that I used to be a guy. Not because I liked being a girl, but because I didn’t want people to think I was one of those weirdo dudes who secretly or not so secretly wanted to be a girl. I had zero desire to be a girl and I hated it. I hated feeling smaller, weaker, helpless and dependant on everyone. I hated going to the bathroom. I hated having people look at me like I was some freak. I hated people treating me like I was a damn teenage girl. I hated feeling like I was walking on eggshells with my emotions. The damn crying was really getting on my nerves. I hated not being able to just blow some crap up with the non-existent super-powers that I should have.
I was completely pissed when Stephanie ran past me and out of the room, crying. I started to feel bad about dumping on her, but Agent Helligan chose that moment to make her appearance.
“Well, that could have gone better.” Agent Helligan said sarcastically from the open doorway.
I turned to face her. “Fuck you.” I said as I started to walk towards the door to leave the room.
With her arms crossed, Agent Helligan leaned calmly against the open door frame.
“Just take me to your damn doctors and let’s get this fucking over with.” I said as I brushed past her and into the hallway.
Agent Fergusson and Agent Kramer were standing outside and they looked a little on edge. I guessed that having a nurse run out of the room crying after the freak girl yelled at her caused them to be a little more alert. I had no idea which way to go, so I set course for the elevators. Agent Fergusson fell in beside me. I kept my eyes forward and refused to acknowledge my warden’s presence.
“Val, you need to chill.” Agent Fergusson whispered to me.
Without stopping, I turned to look at him and raised my sunglasses so that he could see my eyes. I had tears leaking down my face. “I am, chill.” I said as I lowered my sunglasses and turned back to watch where I was walking. I refused to wipe the tears from my face. That would just show everyone how weak I was.
I impatiently crossed my arms over my chest and that sensation just pissed me off a little bit more. Agent Helligan pressed the button to take us up to the 8th floor. That surprised me some since everyone knows that mad scientist labs are always in the basement. When we arrived at the nursing station on that floor, everyone looked a little tense. I guessed that the news of my meltdown traveled fast. I couldn’t wait to have some pissed off nurse stick me with needles to draw more of my blood.
The nurse who ended up taking more of my blood was all business, but she didn’t make any mistakes or purposefully screw up. I never said a word and neither did she, beyond what she needed me to do. After the second vial was filled, she wordlessly handed me a tissue and I used it to calmly wipe my eyes. Two more filled vials later, a different and older nurse arrived to show us to a room where I would wait for one of their quack doctors to examine me.
I refused to crack under the pressure as Agent Helligan silently studied me as we sat in the examination room. I also refused to slouch in my chair like some petulant teen. I did use that time to look around at some of the room’s decor. The room I sort of slept in last night was pretty nice, but the rest of the place had a very governmental feel to it. I thought that this was a meta-human research facility, so the memo on the door with the “Department of Veterans Affairs” letterhead looked out of place.
“I need to get started on your ID. Have you thought about a middle name yet?” She asked.
“No.” I said without looking at her.
“I will need to know by Monday morning. I assume that you will want to talk it over with Mrs. Elletson first, right?” Agent Helligan asked.
I turned my head to look at her. “Yes.” I said as I turned back to stare at the wall.
“Here’s my card.” Agent Helligan said as she held it out for me to take from her.
That made me look at her again since I had to reach over to take it from her.
Agent Helligan didn’t look as pissed at me as I thought she would. She looked very calm and I think that she may have even had a touch of sympathy in her expression. “Call me as soon as you two have figured something out.” She said.
I nodded at her as I took the card from her fingers. “Okay, Thanks.” I said with a whisper.
Without looking at it, I tucked her card safely in my purse and sighed as I relaxed just enough to lean back into my chair. It took me a second to realize that I somehow remembered to grab my purse before I stormed out of my room. Kim would be so proud of me.
“Sorry.” I said, turning my head to look at her.
A smile reached Agent Helligan’s eyes. “I’ve had worse things said to me by people with less cause, but it’s not me you need to apologize to.” She said.
“This sucks.” I said just as someone gently knocked on the door.
The door slowly swung open to reveal a man that fit the doctor stereotype perfectly. Not that it would be hard since all you really need is a white lab coat and a stethoscope. “Valerie Wilson?” The man asked as he looked from Agent Helligan to me.
I was still feeling a little peeved, but I resisted the urge to say, “Duh”. Instead, I just nodded my head in acknowledgement.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Gregson. I’m here to perform a basic physical examination before my colleagues downstairs get their hands on you.” Dr. Gregson said with a cautious smile as tried to crack a joke.
I’m pretty sure that the entire building has heard about my explosion now. It took me a few seconds to catch his last part. The “hands on” statement kind of threw me, but he did say “downstairs”. I knew that there would be a basement involved with this somehow.
Now that I was starting to not be as pissed, my stomach growled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “Umm, will I have a chance to eat some breakfast before that?” I asked.
That reminds me that I need to stop talking and cook my steaks. “Hold on, I really need to get these steaks started.” I say as I dig out a frying pan.
“Okay. I’m kinda surprised that you blew up on that nurse like that.” Jen says with a concerned expression.
“Yeah, I felt bad about that later, but in my defense, I was only running on 4 hours of sleep and I later found out why I felt even more tired than normal during the day.” I say as I get the pan warming up and drizzle some olive oil into the pan.
“Oh, why were you more tired during the day? Are you really a vampire?” Jen asks sounding a little concerned.
After dropping both steaks into the pan, I turn back to look at her. “Does, I vant to suck ya blud! scare you? ” I ask with a horrible Dracula accent as I smile to expose my fangs more.
Jenny responds by faking panic while giggling at the same time. She’s not very convincing, but then again, neither am I. My steaks start to sizzle, so I flip them and sprinkle some garlic salt over the slightly browned side as the other side begins to sizzle too. I pull down a plate, grab a fork and steak knife out and by the time I have done that, the steaks are ready.
I considered cooking them to well done like I normally like my steaks, but the smell of them cooking just made me too hungry to wait that long. Jenny doesn’t say a word as I devour my bloody steaks.
“Gawd, they taste so good Jen! Are you sure you don’t want one?” I ask as some steak juice dribbles out the side of my face. I catch the drops with my fingers and greedily lick them clean.
“Thanks. I’m good. It looks like you’re enjoying them enough for the both of us.” Jen says, giggling at me.
It tastes so good. Maybe I over-cooked them. Maybe uncooked will taste even better. It sounds a little gross, but maybe I will have to try that next time.
“So, why are you more tired during the day?” Jen asks after I rinse my plate off in the sink.
I debated licking it clean, but figured Jen would laugh at me even more.
“Well, now that I am done eating, how about we go back into the living room and I will tell you?” I ask.
Doctor Gregson’s examination of me was pretty simple. Just the normal open your mouth and say, “ahhh” with the rubber mallet on the knee cap thing. I did have to take off my top so that he could use his cold stethoscope, but I didn’t have to take off my bra or my jeans.
“Okay, all done here, Miss Wilson. You can put your top back on now. I’ll let the mad scientists know that you need to eat first.” Dr. Gregson said with a smile as stood up and logged out of his computer.
“Okay.” I said as I pulled my top over my head.
“Did you have any questions?” Dr. Gregson asked.
“Umm, I don’t think so?” I asked with a tentative smile.
“Okay then, good luck.” Dr. Gregson said as he left the room.
I decided to not wear my sunglasses inside the building. Now that I was a little more awake, the light wasn’t as painful. Agent Helligan and I headed back to the elevators. Agents Fergusson and Kramer rejoined the two of us just before the doors opened.
“Holy shit!” An older man said as he jumped back in shock as the elevator doors slid open..
Agent Helligan grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. “It’s okay sir, she’s with us.” She said.
The man started to calm down after he saw the three agents hovering protectively over me. Maybe he thought they were protecting him.
“Shit. Sorry. Are you one of those new meta’s or is there a movie being filmed here?” He asked, looking at Agent Helligan with shame and gratitude before turning to study me a bit more closely.
“Umm, would you believe, a movie?” I asked, glancing at Agent Helligan and back to him with a hopeful expression.
The man actually chuckled and relaxed completely. “I got it, need to know and all that. Don’t worry, if anyone asks, I’ll say that I thought that you looked like one of those girls I’ve seen on those horrible teen shows that my granddaughter likes to watch.” He said with a smile as he walked out of the elevator without a backward glance humming the theme to Hannah Montana.
If he could hum the theme, he has had to have been forced to watch that show more than once, but I’ve only accidentally heard the theme a few times. What was my excuse for knowing what show the theme song was for?
Agent Helligan pressed the first floor button, but as the doors started to close, I reached over and hit the sixth floor button. Agent Helligan looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I wanna see if Stephanie, the nurse I chewed out, is around. I want tell her that I’m sorry. Is that okay?” I asked.
Agent Helligan simply nodded her head affirmatively.
As soon as the doors opened, I spotted Stephanie standing behind the nursing station. Her posture stiffened up as soon as she spotted me, but she didn’t run as I purposely walked over to her. Agent Helligan and her men gave me my space and privacy by not following me.
“Umm, Stephanie?” I asked when I reached the desk.
“Yes, Miss Wilson?” Stephanie asked through a mask of professionalism.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dumped on you like that. It wasn’t your fault.” I said as my eyes started to betray me by getting wet again. Damn dust.
Stephanie looked shocked. She didn’t say anything in return. After 10 seconds of silence, I turned away feeling like crap because I just knew that she hated me.
“Umm, Valerie?” I heard a soft voice behind me ask.
I turned back to look at Stephanie.
“I’m sorry too. We don’t get many meta’s on this level. I didn’t realize, umm, you know?” Stephanie said, looking a little ashamed at herself.
“Yeah, I’m kinda new to this too.” I said with a ghost of a smile as she returned a tentative smile.
I walked back to the waiting agents and they all wordlessly accompanied me into the waiting elevator. Agent Helligan hit the first floor button and remained facing the doors. “Good job, Wilson.” Agent Helligan said without turning around.
The elevator reminded me of the man I scared the crap out of and all the Veteran’s Administration literature I noticed all over the place. “I know that this might be a stupid question to ask, but is this a VA hospital? Because, I thought we were at that S.T.A.R. labs research place or something.” I asked.
“Well, S.T.A.R. lab is leasing their space here because it’s convenient and it’s a government run facility. A bit more privacy since it’s not a public hospital. Plus, if something goes wrong, there is a fully equipped hospital to handle the crisis.” Agent Helligan said matter-of-factually.
That bit of information both relieved and worried me. “What could go wrong?” I thought to myself.
We arrived at the cafeteria during the tail end of the breakfast service. As a result, the pickings were kind of slim, but on the plus side, the place was almost empty of people. I loaded my plate up with a ham and cheese omelet and six slices of bacon. The bacon smelt so good that I couldn’t stop at the normal two slices. They were almost out of the hash-browns, but after my French fry experience, they didn’t look all that appealing to me. So, I skipped them. I topped off my breakfast with a cup of coffee to help wake me up and I was feeling pretty happy.
I still got a few double takes by the cooks, staff and the smattering of diners still eating. The omelet tasted pretty good, but the bacon was to die for. I used to drink my coffee black, but either this stuff was real bitter or my tastes had changed. As I poured sugar and creamer into my cup until I could drink it, I decided that it was both. The caffeine was appreciated by me, though. It was a nice boost for all of 30 minutes.
After breakfast, I was escorted back to the elevators and we went down to the basement. The doors opened to a completely modern and high tech looking hallway that ended 20 feet away at a pair of frosted glass doors with “Science and Technology Advanced Research Laboratories - Meta-Human Research Branch - San Francisco” stenciled in white onto the outside of them.
I was surprised. I expected to see more of the standard hospital decor present on the upper floors. As we walked through the doorway, we were greeted by a smiling and professionally dressed receptionist. As she stood to greet us, I was surprised by the sight of her. I was expecting a nurse wearing scrubs. Not a twenty something woman with perfectly styled hair, make-up and wearing a matching dark blue ladies business jacket and skirt.
“Hi, I’m Brenda. You must be Miss Wilson.” She said with a smile as she extended her hand, expecting me to shake it.
I went ahead and shook her hand. I didn’t want to be rude.
“Okay, we have you scheduled for a full body MRI first, that will then be followed by,” Brenda grimaced. “,the always popular pelvic examine with Doctor Keller.That will end with an hour for lunch. After lunch, Doctor Wiles and Doctor Keller will go over some of the results of you lab work with you and since your origins indicate the possibility of magical powers, Doctor Random will interview you starting at two pm. Depending on how that goes, we may require some additional tests.” Brenda said as she went through her checklist.
“Holy crap!” I said, accidentally speaking out loud what I meant to only think to myself.
Brenda laughed. She had a nice laugh. “Yeah, it is a bit much, but we believe in being thorough. The meta phenomenon has everyone excited and scared at the same time.” Brenda said.
“I’ll leave my men here, if that is okay?” Agent Helligan asked.
Brenda nodded her head yes. “Sure, not a problem Helen.”
I was a little surprised that Brenda used Agent Helligan’s first name. I had only heard her say it once and since then, everyone had addressed her as “Agent Helligan”.
“If you will follow me, Miss Wilson?” Brenda asked, snapping me out of my shock.
Brenda led me down the hall and everything looked new, except for one door. Instead of a modern wood door with brushed aluminum handles and etched metal door numbers, this door looked like it was made of solid steel and it looked old. I couldn’t help my curiosity; I paused next to the door and studied it. The door had “Maintenance Use Only” stenciled in white spray paint and unlike the other doors, its heavy duty hinges were on this side of the door, meaning that this door opened into the hallway. Even stranger was the fact that it had a solid steel bar lodged over the door to prevent it from being opened from the other-side. All that isn’t what caused the most of my curiosity. I don’t know how I knew it, but I just felt like the other side of the door led to larger underground area that ultimately led to an exit.
Brenda stopped a few feet ahead of me after she noticed that I was no longer following her.
“Where does this go?” I asked.
Brenda looked at the door curiously. “You know, I don’t know. I’ve never thought to ask, but it must lead to the old boilers and plumbing for this place. I’ve never seen anyone open it. It’s probably rather messy.”
“Oh, okay.” I gave the door a tap with my knuckle. It sounded very solid. “Weird.” I said, shaking my head with confusion as I rejoined Brenda.
She led me to and left me in a changing room where a female nurse was waiting for us. I was asked to strip down to my panties and don a crappy paper hospital gown for the MRI scan. The MRI wasn’t that bad. The scan itself was over before I knew it, but that was because I fell asleep almost as soon as my head touched the MRI’s foam headrest. The scan took an hour, so I was glad that I was able to take a nap. They got a little worried about me after it took the nurse more than a few shakes to wake me up. After stumbling back to the changing room, it took me a few minutes before I was able to dredge up enough energy to put my clothes back on.
Don’t know why I bothered. The next exam was my very first pelvic exam. Well, the first one I was conscious for anyway. I was pretty sure that the doctors back in L.A. looked down there more than a few times during my transformation. I just wished I could have been knocked out for this one too.
I felt a little reassured when Doctor Keller turned out to be a female doctor. She helped me feel comfortable right from the start by asking me how I preferred to be addressed. She seemed a little surprised when I told her that “Valerie” was fine. She was very gentle with me, but I still hated the experience. She didn’t talk much during the exam, but she did keep me informed of her every movement and pending touch in an effort to help keep me from freaking out. She was mostly successful.
Once she was done, Dr. Keller pointed toward the room’s private bathroom. “You can go ahead and put your clothes back on. There are some sanitary wipes in there to help you clean up. Once you’re dressed and feeling more human, we can over your results together.” She said.
When I finally exited the bathroom, Dr. Keller didn’t seem surprised that it took me a long time to just get dressed. “Why don’t we retire to my office? I have found that there is nothing more distracting than the sight of those things,” She said, pointing to the exam table and the stirrups. “, to stifle a doctor and patient conversation.”
Her office, very conveniently, adjoined the exam room. She had the standard looking doctor office with the big desk, executive office chair, nice computer terminal and so-so guest chairs. I’m glad we didn’t have far to walk since I was still feeling pretty not-good down there.
Dr. Keller nodded with sympathy as I very carefully sat down in one of the guest chairs. “I know that you probably don’t want to hear this, but I do have to caution you about the use of contraceptives.” She must have seen the panicked expression on my face. “Whoa, settle down. It’s not like that. I am pretty sure that you know all about the birds and the bees and how things work. Maybe not from a female perspective, but you’re not the usual girl having her first pelvic exam by her gynecologist, are you?” She asked.
I nodded my head yes and her explanation helped calm me, a little.
“Okay, I would normally prescribe or at least recommend a contraceptive dosage and brand for you to try, but until we can do more tests on your genome and hormone levels; I am not sure if any of the female contraceptives on the market would be safe for you to take.” Dr. Keller said.
I was surprised that I didn’t freak out. “Oh, not that I want to even think about that right now, but why is that?” I asked, but deep down, I think that I already knew what she was going to say.
She paused for a few seconds to gather her thoughts. “Well, I’m not sure exactly how to say this, so I will just go ahead and say it. Based on the blood work sent to us earlier this week, you have tested positive for the meta-gene. However; based on those same tests, your rather unique genetic structure has me and Doctor Wiles concerned.”
“Who is Doctor Wiles and is this about that quantum entanglement stuff?” I asked, while trying to remember what the doctors back at Kim’s hospital said about ‘quantum entanglement’. I was feeling a little confused.
“Yes, Doctor Wiles was pretty excited about that, but he understands the quantum theory more than I, so he will have to explain it to both of us this afternoon.” Dr. Keller said, waving her hands with frustration.
“Oh, okay.” I said.
“What I can tell you know though, is that while your appearance is rather striking and quantum mumbo jumbo aside,” Dr. Keller used her fingers to provide air quotes. “, your DNA is more human than not, but there some differences and it are those that cause me the most concern. Also, based on your sluggishness and your nap in the MRI scanner, on a hunch, I checked your recent blood samples for your adenosine and melatonin levels. Your ratios currently indicate that you may be nocturnal, which...” She said.
I knew it. I was a vampire or something. Since I was stressing out over that, I missed her next few words.
“Valerie!” Dr. Keller said, touching my arm and snapping me out of my internal conflict. She smiled at me. “Now, as I was saying, those differences may not mean anything since there are rather large variations in the human norm, but there could be differences, subtle differences in your physiology that could be dangerous for you. Your body may respond differently to treatment programs that we consider safe.”
“Umm, so I could get sick from taking some aspirin for a headache?” I asked.
Dr. Keller shrugged her shoulders. “Possibly, but I can’t say for sure until the results from the more complete DNA testing come back and after we have been able to perform some basic allergic response tests.”
“How long will those tests take?” I asked.
“Normally, one to two weeks, but we couriered some of your DNA samples off to a specialist at Berkeley who may be able to give us some answers sooner than that.” Dr. Keller said, trying to reassure me.
“Oh, okay.” I said.
Dr. Keller glanced at her watch. “It looks like it is close to lunch time now. Do you have any further questions from me?” She asked.
While Dr. Keller seemed pretty nice and I didn’t want to spend any more time in that room than I absolutely had to, I couldn’t help wondering why a gynecologist seemed to know so much about my meta-human or meta-non-human results. “Okay, sorry, but aren’t you just a gynecologist? Why do you know so much about the rest of my results?” I asked.
She smiled at me. “I’m not just a gynecologist. That just happens to be one of the specialties that I am licensed for. I’m also a licensed endocrinologist.”
I felt kind of stunned. She was really smart. “Oh.” I said, simply.
Dr. Keller laughed at my response. “Well, my first specialty also lets me be the one who gets to tell you about your new reproductive organs due to the rest of my male colleagues being more than a little chicken.” She said with a grin.
“Chicken? Why?” I asked.
“Well, while we have learned a lot about how the meta-gene works, there is still a lot more that we don’t know about the meta-gene. However; in the cases reported thus far, the majority of the victims have been male and those males have had their gender reversed. We don’t know why and to tell you the truth, I think my male colleagues are a little freaked out by that, even if they will never consciously admit it.”
That was a surprise. I didn’t realize that there were other people who have gone through or are going through the same thing that I was. I had a lot to think about. “Umm, okay. Thanks Doctor Keller. Sorry about the ‘just a gynecologist’ thing.” I said as I got up to leave her office.
“No problem Valerie and if you think of something later, feel free to let me know. I’m sure that I will see you a few more times before you are done here.” Dr. Keller said with a cheerful smile as she pulled out some paperwork to work on.
Before I could leave her office, I couldn’t help it, I stopped to ask her another question. There was just one more teeny tiny thing that I just had to know. “Umm, Dr. Keller?”
“Yes Valerie?” She asked, looking up from the paperwork on her desk.
“Am I a vampire?” I asked as I ran my tongue across my fangs.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. Mystique from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler, Joker and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note:I'm starting to feel guilty about Whisper. So, I talked myself out of ending this one with a big cliffhanger, more of a little cliffhanger in case it took me some time to get the next chapter out. :) A special thanks goes out to Lilith and all of the real CRU authors for providing such an interesting Universe to play in. Hope ya all enjoy. Thanks to djkauf for editing. Enjoy!
“Oh my god! So you really are a vampire!” Jen says, recoiling away from me as far as my couch will allow without her jumping out of it.
Just to mess with her, I hiss at her and bare my fangs as I raise my hands up in a clawing motion. “Mmmm, blood, more blood, so hungry.” I say. It is really hard not to laugh.
Jen forms a cross symbol with her fingers. “Back! Back, you foul beast!” She says with a fierce whisper instead of a scream, which tells me that she’s not really scared of me. She’s just acting.
“I’m melting....melting...” I say as it is now my turn to recoil away from her.
“You brat!” Jen manages to get out just before she starts laughing.
Her laughter causes me to start laughing and I don’t want that to turn into giggles, so I pour myself another few sips of wine to distract me while Jen regains control of herself.
“Phew! So, you’re not a vampire, right?” Jen asks.
“Nope.” I say shaking my head.
“Okay, then you’re just a Dragon’s Bane Dark Elf?” Jen asks.
I contemplate pretending to be zombie for a split second. “Yep, just a DBO Dark Elf who happens to be a carnivore and nocturnal by nature, but supposedly, I should be able to change myself to diurnal with a few weeks of working at it.” I say.
Jen tilts her head inquisitively. “Diurnal?”
“Yeah, it means slave away at work during the day and sleep at night like normal people versus the cool vampires who sleep all day and party all night.” I say with a laugh.
“Ahh, being nocturnal for real sounds like it could be kinda nice if you work the night shift somewhere, but what else did she say?” Jen asks.
**
Dr. Keller blinked with surprise as she contemplated how to give me the bad news. “Why would you think that?” She asked.
“Well, I’m nocturnal, I have fangs, the light hurts my eyes and I seem to only like meat now, just like a vampire.” I said.
“Valerie, you are not a vampire.” Dr. Keller said.
“But...” I said.
“Your body is just optimized for hunting at night.” Dr. Keller said.
“But...” I said even though I wasn’t entirely sure why being a vampire would be so bad. In the movies, the vampires were always the cool ones. Well, except for that sparkly one.
“You’re not dead. You have a heartbeat. Unlike a vampire, your blood is perfectly normal with the right ratio of white and red blood cells that are working exactly as they should.” Dr. Keller said with an amused smile.
“Oh. Okay, I guess I just sounded a little silly there, didn’t I?” I asked as I struggled to contain my embarrassment.
How does she know what a vampire’s blood looks like?
Dr. Keller chuckled. “Oh no, not at all Valerie. I completely understand. I’d probably be thinking the same thing if I were in your shoes.”
“I doubt that, but thanks.” I said with a reluctant smile. “Well, I guess I will get some lunch now. Thanks again.”
“No problem, Valerie. See you in a little bit.” Dr. Keller said as I closed her door.
I managed to walk back to the front desk all on my own. I was still feeling a little out of sorts due to the exam, so I used that as an excuse to briefly stop at that “Maintenance Use Only” door. I don’t know why I found the door and what could be behind it so captivating. I just knew that it led to somewhere deep underground. I considered trying to sneak a peek inside, but decided that might get me in trouble, if it wasn’t locked. Plus, I was starting to get hungry and I wanted to eat something before my next exam.
I picked up my two wardens in the lobby area.
“How did it go?” Agent Fergusson asked.
“Uggh. The MRI, I slept through, but the pelvic exam? Just be glad you’re not a girl.” I said with a grimace.
Agent Fergusson laughed while Agent Kramer looked away uncomfortably. “Oh, I am. Trust me, I am.” Agent Fergusson said. “Well, shall we get some grub?”
“Yes, let’s. Lead on my trusty squire!” I said with a happy grin. It felt good to only be worried about food and not the life and death stuff.
We arrived in the cafeteria and unlike in the morning, the place was packed. As a result, I got more than a few double and triple takes. I also noticed more than a few people who couldn’t seem to get away from my general vicinity fast enough while muttering not-nice things under their breath like, “I can’t believe they would let those kind of creatures in here!”
On the plus side, no one attacked me with a knife. Muttered words, nasty glances and OMG’s, those I could take and even find some humor in.
This time, I went straight for the burger line and ordered three cheeseburgers, hold everything. The burger flipping dude looked a little surprised that little ‘ole me would want three greasy burgers instead of something healthy, like a salad.
“Can you cook them medium too?” I asked.
Now he looked even more confused. Burger dude looked at Agent Fergusson for confirmation and that sort of irritated me. Like, I needed permission from someone else to order some food? What in the hell?
I felt Agent Fergusson’s hand on my shoulder, so I looked back to see what he wanted. “Valerie...” He said with a slightly reproving expression.
That irritated me a little more until I looked back at the burger dude and noticed that he looked petrified of me. “No, no, it’s okay ma’am! I’ll just cook them for half the time on each side.” He said with a weak grin.
I tried to smile at him, but that just made him look even more nervous. “Oh, my god! I’m so sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to, ya know?” I asked, hoping that would make him feel better even though I wasn’t so sure I liked being called referred to as a “ma’am” either. I guess it was better than, “miss” though. Why do young girls get called “miss” while boys are “master” or “mister” no matter how young or old they are? It’s just so demeaning!
I guess that thinking about gender inequality made me look a little pissed. “Here are your burgers, ma’am!” The burger dude said nervously as he handed me my plate as fast he could.
“Thanks!” I said with a smile, but that didn’t seem to help any. What was his problem?
Agent Fergusson helped me find a table. Well, he and Kramer more or less picked it for me and escorted me to it, but that’s not important. What is important is that my burger tasted like heaven to me. Way better than the burger that I had yesterday. The little bit of pink in the center made all the difference. “So, am I really that scary looking?” I asked my wardens after I gulped down my first burger.
They both paused with their chewing. Fergusson glanced over at Kramer before rapidly finishing his bite. “Well, when you get pissed, your red eyes and the fangs don’t help.” Agent Fergusson said diplomatically.
I thought about it for a second. “Oh, yeah. I guess that could be bad.” I said with a shrug since there wasn’t much that I could do about that except not get pissed, maybe wear my shades more and not smile at anyone. I decided to just eat my second burger instead of worrying about it.
Since Fergusson and Kramer took the chairs with their backs to the wall and thus forcing me to turn my back to the rest of the room, I didn’t get to see any of the strange looks that I knew I was getting behind my back. I noticed them give a few warning looks to a few people and laugh a couple of times too. I tried to twist around and see what they found so funny, but I always missed it.
“Dude was checking ya out, Valerie.” Fergusson said after the third time.
“Ewww, gross.” I said then decided to just finish my last burger sans bun. The bread just got in the way of the good stuff.
I felt pretty contented after eating. With my stomach full, I just wanted to curl up and fall asleep. I almost fell asleep sitting up, but Agent Fergusson noticed the z-monsters trying to rappel down my eyelids.
“Hey, Valerie, why don’t we head downstairs and sit in the lobby while we wait?” Agent Fergusson asked.
I managed to nod my agreement with that idea. “Okay...sounds good.” I said, slightly mumbling.
I woke up a little during the walk down to the S.T.A.R. labs lobby. Agent Fergusson motioned me over to the couch. I plopped down, leaned my head against the nice and cushy arm rest and promptly fell asleep.
I woke up with Fergusson shaking my shoulder. “Val, it’s time to wake up. Doctor Random is ready for you.”
I was feeling a little fuzzy and I didn’t understand why I was laying down when I knew that I fell asleep against the arm rest. Even stranger was the fact that I was using Fergusson’s leg as a pillow and I even had a suit jacket over me like a blanket.
I instantly woke up and bolted from the couch in a flash. “Oh, my god! Fergusson, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” I suddenly remembered that he said Dr. Random was ready for me. “Oh, no! Did I sleep through my appointment with Dr. Keller and Dr. Wiles?” I asked, nearly panicking. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Valerie. It’s okay.” Fergusson said as Kramer just sat calmly in his chair with an amused twinkle in his eyes.
“But, I missed an appointment! Now what will I do?” I asked, risking a quick glance over to Brenda. I expected her to be upset, but she was smiling too.
That made me start to feel suspicious. “What?” I asked, looking around.
Agent Fergusson casually picked up his jacket from the floor. “Doctor Keller saw you out here sleeping and decided to reschedule your appointment with her after your appointment with Doctor Random so that you could get some extra sleep.” He said as he dusted off his jacket before putting it back on.
“Oh, umm, sorry about your jacket.” I said while trying to forget the fact that I was sleeping on a dude’s leg and using his jacket like a blanket.
Fergusson just chuckled at me. “It’s okay, Valerie.” He said.
“Miss Wilson, umm, Valerie, do you want to follow me to Doctor Random’s office?” Brenda asked.
“I guess so. Now that I’m wide awake.” I said with grin now that I was starting to not freak out over falling asleep on Agent Fergusson. I just hoped that I didn’t snore.
This time, we turned down a different hallway and I didn’t get to obsess over a stupid door.
Brenda knocked politely on a door that simply read “Dr. Random - Magical Studies”. I heard a man’s voice say, “Enter.” Brenda opened the door for me and motioned me past her.
I was expecting a small office like Dr. Keller’s, but Dr. Random’s office turned out to be more like a softly lit library with a black leather couch, dark wood coffee table and comfy looking black leather recliner with a matching ottoman. I noticed a thick manila file folder with my name on it lying on the table.
His appearance surprised me, but I guess that it wouldn’t have mattered since I just didn’t know what a Doctor of Magic might look like. He could have looked like Gandolf with the pointy wizard hat, long white beard, bathrobe and old staff or he could be wearing a tuxedo with the top hat to pull rabbits out of or something else entirely.
Dr. Random turned out to be a dude wearing an expensive looking suit. The only stereotypical “magical” thing about him was his goatee. Well, the goatee plus the fact that I was able to sense the fact that he had a large amount of Essence inside of him, but his Essence pool didn’t feel as large as mine.
Dr. Random smiled warmly at me as I cautiously entered his lair. “Welcome to my office, Miss Wilson.” He gestured around at his library. “Do you mind if I call you Valerie?” He asked as Brenda softly closed the door behind me, trapping me in the room with just Dr. Random.
I liked the fact that the light wasn’t so bright in here. It was a very comfortable feeling space. “Umm, Valerie is fine. Better than ‘miss’, umm, Doctor Random?” I said hesitantly.
Dr. Random chuckled. “Random is fine. Doctor Random this and Doctor Random that can get rather tedious.”
“Oh, okay, umm, Random?” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure about him now. I mean, who has a name like Random anyway? I wondered if it wasn’t really his name. It sounded more like an alias to me.
He just chuckled at my confusion. “Names give others power, well, if you’re into summoning demons anyway, but magic users don’t feel comfortable with giving their real names to just anyone. There is always the fear that their name could give others power over them, but I think it just makes magic users sound more mysterious.” Dr. Random said with a grin.
I felt a little less nervous about him. “Oh, okay. Sorta like Rumpelstiltskin?” I asked.
“Exactly!” Random smiled at me as he motioned me to sit on the couch.
He smiled at me as I cautiously sat on the couch and glanced around the room. There were a lot of books in here and a few strange looking art objects. I guessed that maybe the art objects were really magic items of some kind.
“Now, I was reading over your file there,” He said, point briefly at it. “And I couldn’t help but note that aside from your rather extreme transformation, you also transformed into a form that resembles your, umm, Dragon’s Bane Online game character, correct?”
I nodded my head. “Yes, I think so anyway.” I said.
“And, your game character was not only a Dark Elf, but also a Death Priest, correct?” Random asked, looking at me very intently.
He made Vylencia sound a little evil or tainted with his description of her. I hoped that he didn’t think that I was evil. “Umm, well, Vylencia wasn’t always a Dark Elf. Most of the time she was a High Elf and a Life Priest. I only switched to Death Aspect to solo her and very rarely for PvP.” I said, trying to explain things.
“PvP?” Random asked.
“Oh, yeah, sorry. Player versus Player.” I said.
“Ahh, okay. That’s like a form of “dueling”, correct?” Random asked.
His term made me wonder how old he was. Duels went out of style over a hundred years ago. “Umm, yeah, except PvP can be team versus team too.” I said.
“I see, very interesting concept there. My, how times change.” Random said, grinning at me with excitement before he grew more serious. “Anyway, I performed some research into this Dragon’s Bane game, its mythology, its interpretation of magic and I must admit that I am concerned.”
That made me sit up with alarm. “Concerned?” I asked.
“Yes, it appears that this Dragons Bane Online is more informed about the true nature of magic than I would have expected.” Random said as he steepled his hands together while he focused all of his attention on me.
His constant use of ‘Dragon’s Bane’ was starting to get annoying to me. “Umm, DBO. We just call Dragon’s Bane, DBO, but umm, what about the magic?” I asked.
“Ahh, DBO, yes, I can see how that would also be less tedious.” Random said with a quick grin before his expression turned more serious again. “Anyway, this DBO game’s documentation and symbolism regarding magic is disturbingly close to how magic really works.”
“Really?” I asked, feeling stunned, alarmed and amazed all at the same time.
“Yes.”
“So, I should be able to cast a spell?” I asked.
“Perhaps, with some training. A person just can’t wake up one day and cast spells that they saw in a video game; no matter how close to real that game appears.” Random said with a trace of authority.
Well, I guessed that he was the expert. He sounded like more of an expert than I am anyway. “Oh, so why do I have Essence then?” I asked.
Random stood up with alarm and looked at me with disbelief. “What do you mean by that?” He asked.
“Well, ummm, last night when I was sitting in my room and looking out the window, I felt something from the moon and after awhile, I noticed that I was full of Essence. At least, I feel like I am, but I’m not sure because I can’t cast any of my, I mean, Vylencia’s spells.” I said while feeling less and less sure of myself as I tried to explain things to him.
He relaxed and sat back down in his chair. He was silent for a few seconds and I was starting to get worried. “Hmmm, if true,” I started to object and he waved it away. “No, sorry, if accurate, then that certainly is an interesting development. It may indicate that one of Doctor Wiles’ theories regarding that quantum stuff he is so found of is true.” Random said.
“What is that, sir?” I asked. I don’t know why I felt like calling him sir, but it just came out.
“Well, Doctor Wiles believes that your body may allow you to store magical energy, or Essence. I initially discounted his theory, but if what you say is accurate, then he may actually be right about that.” Random said with slightly scandalized expression. “Yes, imagine that. Modern science and magic coming together over this Quantum Physics thing that has gotten so popular this decade.”
“Oh.” I said. I wasn’t sure what else I could say about that.
“Well, there are ways that we can test this observation of yours. Would you be willing to allow me to attempt a simple evaluation on you?” Random asked.
“Sure?” I said with a little bit of hesitation. If he pulled out an altar, bloodstained or otherwise, or even worse, Dr. Keller’s exam table, I was totally going to run.
Dr. Random led me to an adjoining room that was empty of any furnishings. All that it had was a highly polished granite floor with a circle that contained lots of intricate symbols etched into the granite. The sight of that made me a little nervous too.
Random chuckled at my hesitation. “Nothing to fear, my dear. I will go first and show you what to expect.” He said as he stepped into the circle and stood in the center.
I decided to ignore the fact that he called me a ‘dear’.
“Now, what I am going to cast is a simple cantrip that based upon the target’s Essence, will generate a wind. The more Essence that the target has the greater the wind. Understand?” Random asks.
I nodded my head, yes. I was unable to feel how much Essence he had now that he was inside the circle, but from what I felt when we first met, I knew that he had a lot. He waved his hand in a simple gesture. His clothes and hair immediately began to blow around as if he was standing in front of a very powerful fan, but I was unable to feel even the slightest of breezes.
Random waved his hand again and the motion inside the circle stopped. “See, harmless.” He said as he stepped over to me.
“Now, simply step inside the circle and stand in the center.” Random said, with an encouraging smile, as he noticed my hesitation.
“Umm, okay?” I said as I cautiously entered the circle. I was a little worried. I knew that I had even more Essence than he had. What if his little cantrip caused a tornado when it hit me?
I watched anxiously as he repeated the gesture with his hand. I felt something stirring and closed my eyes, anticipating a gale force wind or something. Instead of that, I only felt a faint trickle of wind that barely even made my pony tail twitch. Someone could have just turned the room’s heating system on for all I could feel. I cautiously opened my eyes and looked at him. “Did you cast it? I hardly feel anything.” I said.
Random frowned with thought. “Hmm, it appears that either your ‘feeling’ full of Essence isn’t what you think it is, your full Essence is a small amount or there is something else going on here.” He said as he waved his hand again and the faint tickle of wind stopped.
Disappointed, I followed him back into his library room and sat on the couch. I glanced at him expectantly as he picked up my folder and thoughtfully paged through it. “Hmmm.” He said after a few minutes.
“What?” I asked, feeling more than a little disappointed. What if I didn’t have any super magic powers? What if all I got from my meta-gene was to be turned into a 16 year old girl who looked like a Dark Elf? I felt sure that there was a crappy t-shirt joke in there somewhere. Well, on the plus side, at least I would have a sort of normal life. Okay, I was still a Dark Elf chick. How normal of a life could I really expect to have?
Random sighed and I looked up at him to see what more bad news he had to tell me. “I can see that you’re a little disappointed my dear.” He said softly. “But the path to magic is a long and sometimes difficult journey full of many twists and turns. Fear not, you have just placed the first foot upon the path.” He smiled at me and that gave me some hope.
“Umm, thanks, but I guess it was really too much for me to expect. I guess that I should be happy to just be alive.” I said feeling a touch grateful about something. Now I just wanted to call Kim, but that would have to wait for later.
Random silently studied me for what felt like the longest time, but was really only a few seconds. “I know that you’re disappointed, but that test is not conclusive. You have much to look forward to my dear. The test did show that you have the spark necessary to wield magic. All you need now is the time to learn.”
“How long did it take you to learn?” I asked feeling a little more hopeful about my situation. Maybe after a few months of practice and study, I might be able to cast a spell or two.
“Only a few decades and I sometimes miss the time I spent learning from my master.” Random said with a fond smile.
“A few decades?!” I asked with shock. “I don’t have that much time.”
“Oh, on the contrary my dear. You’re a Dark Elf now. Baring an accident, you have centuries to learn.” Random said.
**
“Wow, really?” Jen asks me.
“Well, that’s what he said and if you read the DBO manual, it even says that.” I say.
“Okay, so why does the DBO manual, which is crap, have so much real stuff in it?” Jen asks.
I shrug my shoulders. “Beats me, but apparently, the history of the DBO world matches the 4th Age of Magic pretty closely. Doctor Random was very concerned about that.” I say.
“Oh, so what else did he say about Dark Elves?” Jen asks.
“Well, they were Evil with a capital ‘E’ and they got themselves exterminated because of it. They lived really long lives, just like the other elves and they lived underground. It’s all in the manual.” I say.
“Okay, so why didn’t his spell detect your Essence?” Jen asks, looking confused. “I mean, you obviously have Essence now.”
“Beats me.” I say without much concern about the reason why. “I guess his spell just didn’t work the way he expected it to work or something.”
“Oh, so what else did he tell you?” Jen asks.
“Not much really. He taught me how to meditate and he warned me that the surviving races of the 4th Age will probably hate me and try to kill me.” I say, purposely sounding bored to hide the fact that I am a little worried about that. I mean, I don’t even know them and they don’t know me. I am not evil so how could someone hate me? That 4th Age thing was thousands and thousands of years ago.
Jen looks a little worried about me. She pauses to take a sip of her wine. “Okay. I’m a little worried about that 4th Age grudge thing, but what happened with Doctor Wiles and that quantum stuff?” Jen asks.
**
I think that I was just starting to get the hang of the meditation thing that Doctor Random taught me when he reminded me that it was time for my next appointment. After he wrote a few additional notes in my file, he handed it to me.
“Take this with you and give it to Doctor Wiles, please.” Random said.
I quickly took a peek inside. There was a lot of stuff in there. “Okay?” I said, hesitantly.
Random smiled at me with what looked like suspiciously like a fond expression. “This will be goodbye for now. You take care, Miss Wilson.” He said.
I didn’t even think about feeling upset about him calling me a ‘miss’. He just had that air about him. “Umm, okay sir. I will try.” I said with a quick nod.
Random’s smile grew and a card appeared in his hand. I would like to say that it was just simple sleight of the hand, but with him it was probably real magic or maybe not. “Here. Once you get a chance to get settled, give me a call. I may be able to provide you with some guidance from time to time.” He said.
Of course, I took his card. “Umm, thanks, Doctor Random.” I said, giving him a tentative smile. I actually felt pretty grateful. It seemed like he knew a lot and he definitely knew some magic. Having him teach me could be very handy.
I didn’t know where I supposed to meet Dr. Wiles, so I walked back to the front desk. Agent Fergusson and Agent Kramer were sitting in the waiting room leafing through some magazines. They had to be bored out of their minds. Fergusson glanced up and gave me nod with his eyes before he glanced casually back to his magazine. Kramer never even budged. Brenda sat behind her desk doing with a document on her computer. She turned her head and gave me a friendly smile as I approached her from behind.
“Umm, Brenda. I’m done with Doctor Random.” I said.
“Oh, good. How was your meeting with him?” Brenda asked.
“It was okay...” Brenda glanced at me curiously. “Well, he didn’t find any magic in me, but he did say that I could learn.” I said with a tentative smile.
Brenda looked at me with sympathy. “Oh, I’m sorry Valerie, but maybe Doctor Wiles will have something for you.” She said as stood and gave me a totally unexpected and encouraging hug. “Here, let me run you down to Doctor Wiles’ office.”
Before we left, I glanced back to Fergusson and caught him peeking up from his magazine. Busted, he rapidly looked back at his magazine.
Brenda led me past ‘The Door’ again and this time I kinda understood why I found the door so fascinating. It was because of my Dark Elvishness thing for living underground. I think. It made me extra curious about could be down there. “Brenda? How old is this place?”
Brenda glanced back to me. “Oh, I’m not sure. I think World War Two for sure, but probably older than that. There are some old forts or gun batteries or something like near here. It used to be called Fort Miley.” She said. “Why?”
I felt a little embarrassed now. “Oh, nothing. It’s kind of silly really.” I said.
“What?” Brenda asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and gave Brenda a hesitant grin. “I don’t know, but I just get the feeling that there might be some of the old fort under here, or something.”
“Oh, well, that could be kinda cool, but if it is, I’m sure it’s all sealed up and exceptionally dirty.” Brenda said.
“Yeah, probably.” I nodded with reluctance as Brenda motioned for me to follow her again.
Dr. Wiles’ office just happened to be next to Dr. Keller’s office. Brenda could have just told me that. “Brenda? You could have just told me that his office was next to Doctor Keller’s office.” I said.
Brenda giggled at me. “Oh, it’s okay Valerie. I needed the walk.” She said as she politely knocked on Dr. Wiles’ door.
“Come in.” I head a man’s voice say from the other side.
Brenda opened the door. “Doctor Wiles? Miss Wilson is here to see you now.” She said as I stepped forward.
Dr. Wiles appeared to be in his 40’s with a fringe of unkempt black hair circling his head, but a full beard to make up for the missing hair on his head. He was wearing some rather thick glasses in the classic black plastic birth control frames. Dr. Wiles smiled at me as he motioned me into his lair and pointed towards a chair that faced his desk. “Come, Come Miss Wilson. We have much to discuss.”
I took a tentative step towards his desk and noticed Dr. Keller and Dr. Random sitting on a brown leather couch. Dr. Keller smiled at me encouragingly while Random just sat there impassively. I felt a little better seeing both of them here. Random’s presence surprised me because once again, I could have just followed him instead of pestering Brenda, but with him here, maybe Dr. Wiles would be able to shed some light on Random’s observations and have some ideas on my phantom Essence.
That didn’t happen. I ended up leaving the meeting feeling even more confused. Confused because Dr. Wiles spouted terms like quantum superposition, spin anti-correlated, decoherence and qubits.
His two main hypotheses about why I might have some form of quantum entanglement going on inside my DNA is that a) I can turn back into my old self or b) I can change my Aspect and turn into Vylencia’s High Elf form. If either of those worked out, I’d be a happy camper. More happy if the first one was true, because being a) a girl, b) a 16 year old girl and c) a Dark Elf kind of sucks. While the girl part is hard to deal with, it’s even harder to have a normal life when you looked like a human sized Smurf.
That spawned an explanation of Schrá¶dinger's Cat, which hurt my head just as much as it did in college when my physics professor tried to explain basic quantum physics. Essentially, the cat boiled down to a few problems for me with option a). If my body existed in a state of quantum entanglement, then what happened to my current body could also happen to my other body. Things like wounds, aging and the fact that my male body got shocked almost to death. What if I could switch to my old body? Would I want to be burned half to death just to not be a girl? If my body wasn’t burned, then the aging thing could come into play. Why would I want to be an old guy in 30 years when I could be a young girl for centuries? Well, except for the girl part, but still, youth or manhood? Youth, duh!
That is where he brought in the decoherence thing that I still don’t understand, but I think he was trying to say that my other body might be totally separate and not affected by what happens to my current body.
He got all these ideas based on the analysis of my DNA from some scientist dude that he simply referred to as “Hank”. What kind of a real scientist would go by the name Hank? Not even Doctor Hank. Hank sounded like a janitor’s name to me.
However; based upon my ‘Phantom Essence’ and how DBO spell caster characters store Essence , he proposed a third hypothesis. The quantum entanglement thing was a way for my body to store Essence. In effect, my body was a big Essence battery and that might be why Dr. Random’s test failed.
Dr. Wiles was pretty excited about all that stuff and it sounded cool, but it also depressed me because I still didn’t know if I really had any Essence or if it was just all in my head. I did try to ‘flip the switch’ and test the first two hypotheses of his, but nada on that too.
Even more depressing was that Dr. Wiles wanted me to stay an extra day so that they could do a PET scan on my brain while I tried to cast a spell or change my Aspect. The extra tests meant that I wouldn’t get out until sometime Saturday evening. I was really hoping that when I called Kim tonight, I could tell her that she could come pick me up. I think that was the most depressing part. I really missed her.
I wasn’t the happiest camper when I finally hooked back up with my wardens. Fergusson noticed my glum expression. “What’s the matter Val?”
I sighed with frustration. “Oh, nothing and that is the problem. I got nothing. I got the shit shocked outta me and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” I said, gesturing to my body. Did he just call me ‘Val’?
“Ahh, I see. Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Sometimes it takes newly emerged meta’s a few weeks before they figure out what their power is.” Fergusson said, trying to cheer me up.
“Umm, that doesn’t really help, dude.” I said, barely managing to not cry.
“Okay, yeah, that was dumb of me. Sorry. How about, if you don’t have a dangerous power, then you get to move on with your life faster?” Fergusson said with an apologetic smile and a shrug.
“Really?” I asked, feeling a glimmer of a positive in all of this.
“Usually, yeah. The more powerful the meta, the more, umm, oversight they have to deal with to make sure that they aren’t a danger to society and all that.” Fergusson said.
“Oh, well, I guess that wouldn’t suck.” I said.
Fergusson motioned to the elevators with his head. “Come on, let’s go grab a bite to eat. Rollins and Thompson will be here in an hour to take over.” He said.
“Meh. I’m not really hungry right now. Can I just go to my room, chill and maybe call Kim?” I asked, looking up at Fergusson hopefully.
Fergusson grinned at me. “Are ya sure? I think they have steaks tonight.”
**
“Oh my gawd Ally! You know that you can cast spells now. Maybe you can switch to Vylencia’s Life Aspect now too.” Jen said, bouncing with excitement.
I look at Jen curiously. I know that I talked a lot about the game when we were dating and I just went over what happened with the match that caused all this, but something isn’t adding up. She knows too much. “Okay Jen. Spill it. How do you know so much about the game now? You hated it and wanted nothing to do with it when we were dating.”
Jen turns her face to the side. She looks guilty about something. “Weellll, I ummm, started playing it two months after we broke up.”
“What?!?!” I ask, accidentally yelling a little louder than I planned.
She looks back to me for a second before looking down at her lap with shame. “Yeah. I was pissed for the first month, but then, I had an idea for a column about gaming addictions and how relationships suffer.”
“Okay...and?” I ask while motioning her to continue with her story. This ought to be good.
“Well, I needed to do research, so I bought DBO, purely for research purposes, and started playing it so that I would know more about the subject.”
I think that I could see where her story is going already. “Don’t tell me. You liked it, right?”
Jen grabs my hands and looks desperately at me. “Yes. I’m sorry. I wanted to call you, but I kept chickening out. I was going to call you when you got back to congratulate you, but, ummm, well...” She glances up and down at my body. “This happened instead.”
“What class are you?” I ask, kind of expecting her to say that she is a priest or mage.
“I made a Wood Elf rogue on your server, named her Whisper.” Jen says, totally surprising me.
“Oh...good name. What level are you now?”
“Sixty.” Jen says with a whisper.
Now I am really surprised. “Holy crap, Jen! You’ve been playing a freaking lot!”
“Yeah...” Jen says, looking away for a second.
Now everything makes more sense to me, sort of. “Well, that explains why you knew about the match and more about how the game works and to look for me here, but why were you up so late and how did you even know that I was in the news?” I ask.
“Umm, I was playing and someone in my guild yelled about a chick who kinda looked like a Dark Elf was on the news. Soon as I saw her picture, I knew it was you.”
“Oh, so, why did you decide to come over then?” I ask.
“I’ve been worried sick about you and I just had to know if what I thought was true.” Jen says as her eyes begin to tear up.
“Really? Why would you be worried about me?” I ask. I know the answer, but I want to hear her say it even though it is kind of a moot point now.
Jen looks down hesitantly. “Weelll, I was kind of sorta hoping that if we got back together that we could team up. Have you show me some high level stuff. You know, for the article.”
“Ha! Article. Right. You’re addicted now too.” I laugh a little at the irony. “Wait a minute; did you say get back together?” I ask, looking at her with shock.
“Umm, I was kinda hoping that we could think about it. I really started missing you a month ago and when the accident happened, it nearly drove me crazy.” Jen says as tears start to pour from her eyes.
Now it’s my turn to find a tissue or something for her. I run into the kitchen and grab a paper towel for her. I silently hand it to her and on impulse, I sit down next to her and hug her to me as she blots the tears from her eyes. I hold her until she stops crying and she sits back up.
“Thanks, I’m so sorry Ally.” Jen says, looking like she might start crying again.
“Not your fault, but you’re not into girls, right?” I ask with the slightest bit of hope that she will say that she is, even though I know that she’s not.
Jen’s dark cloud lifts a little, but she shakes her head no.
“So, that pretty much kills that idea and even if you were, I’m now a wanted criminal and I’m pretty sure that I’m done playing DBO.” I say.
“Oh?” Jen’s face takes on that mischievous and sneaky look that I remember so well. This ought to be good. “If you’re not going to play any more. Can I have your stuff?” She asks.
I can’t stop myself. I break down and laugh which causes Jenny to laugh. We both end up struggling to contain our laughter. I manage to take few sips of my wine. That distraction helps me stop my very un-manly giggles that the laughter has devolved into.
“Okay, so, do you want to hear the rest of my story? Iwas just about to get to the part where shit blows up before you blew my mind with the DBO admission.” I ask.
“Well, I did have a few more questions about your Aspect stuff, but I guess they can wait, for now.” Jen says with mock impatience.
**
Agent Fergusson looked a little disappointed, which made me feel bad. “I’m sorry Fergusson, I think that I just want to go back to my room and chill for now. I’ve got a lot to think about.”
“That’s okay, Valerie. It looks like today has been pretty rough on you.” Fergusson said, looking a little sympathetic toward me. Agent Kramer just kept his normal impassive stone faced expression. He was definitely the strong and silent type.
“Thanks. So, umm, Agent Kramer?” I asked as I glanced over at him with a smirk.
He just raised his eyebrow inquisitively while Fergusson looked a little concerned about what I might ask his partner.
“Do you two ever play good-cop/bad-cop with the bad guys? Because you would make an excellent bad-cop.” I said while trying not to laugh.
A chuckle sneaked out of Fergusson before he could stop it. I couldn’t really tell what Kramer was thinking. He just coolly glanced over at Fergusson who rapidly composed his poker face under Kramer’s gaze. Agent Kramer looked back at me.
“No.” He said as simply as possible as he hit the call button for the elevator.
I could see his face reflected in the elevator door and I thought that I could see a slight quirk of his mouth that could be a smile. Hard to say for sure, but a quick glance at Fergusson confirmed to me that he thought it was funny.
I went straight to my room as soon as we arrived on my floor. Kramer stopped me from entering so that he could case the room first. He sure did take his job seriously. Fergusson hung out with me in the hallway.
Fergusson leaned over to me. “That was a good one Val, you almost got him to crack a smile back there.” Fergusson said with a whisper.
I couldn’t help it; a giggle escaped me just as Agent Kramer walked back out. He looked at both of us with a bland expression. “Room is clear.” He said.
That just made me laugh more. I rushed past him and into my room to keep from completely loosing it. I jumped onto my bed and immediately opened up my purse to hunt down my phone. I had to try calling Kim.
“Val, we’ll be out here if you need something.” Fergusson said as he softly closed the door for me.
“Thanks Ferg, uhh, Fergusson.” I said, quickly correcting myself as he paused long enough to give me a look.
I managed to find my phone right after that. It was hidden in plain sight, right next to the pad things. I guess that I was subconsciously blocking them or something. I quickly opened it up and hit the memory dial for Kim. The phone rang and rang, before finally switching over to voice mail.
Crap!
I really wanted to talk to her. Her away message ended and it beeped at me. “Hi Kim, it’s me. Sorry I didn’t call you sooner, but today has been busy. They want me to stay one more day so that they can do a PET scan on me. I don’t have any super powers, but I did learn that I’m now a carnivore and nocturnal, so call me as late as you want. Love ya, bye.” I said. It was a struggle to not break down there at the end.
I felt a little tired, so I closed the curtains, turned off the lights and made a quick bathroom run. I still didn’t like having to sit, but it was starting to get a little easier. Well, not easier, but I guess I was just getting more used to it. I decided to brush my teeth because there is nothing worse than falling asleep with that taste in your mouth that makes you slobber all over your pillow. My teeth were so white and I had to admit that my little fangs did look kind of cute, I mean cool. I growled at the mirror once just to see if I looked dangerous enough. I didn’t. I guess I just wasn’t mad enough because I sure seemed to scar the burger dude during lunch.
Satisfied with my reflection, I took off my shoes and crawled into bed with my clothes on. Yes, I forgot to take off my bra, again.
But, that was the least of my worries because someone literally threw me out of the bed.
“Move it Wilson!” Agent Rollins yelled at me as he yanked me out of the bed by my arm. Sucks to only weigh 135 lbs because there was no way anyone could have done that to me a week ago.
“Hey!” I yelled before I realized I was already half out of my room.
<Bang!>
The sound of a weapon firing woke me the up right away.
“What the aaaaaaahhh?!?” I asked as Rollins pulled me into the hallway and forced me behind him against the wall with his left arm while his right held his pistol at the ready.
<Bang!><Bang!>
The shots fired from the nearby lobby area stopped me from asking Rollins why he had his weapon out. What in the hell is going on?
“Wha?” I started to ask before I was interrupted by the sound of a machine-gun firing on full auto.
<BRRRRRAAAAPPPP!>
Agent Rollins pushed me away from him and towards the other end of the hallway. “Run! Down the stairs!” He yelled as he dropped into a crouch, using my partially open doorway as cover.
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I ran, but about halfway towards the doorway to the stairs, I wished that I had a chance to put my sneakers on because running down a hall in socks was a little treacherous. I also realized that I had forgotten my purse. Kim would not be happy with me.
I slowed down just long enough to consider going back for them when I heard Agent Rollins fire a shot as someone screamed, “She’s running to the west stairwell!”
That made me completely forget my purse and care about slipping on the floor. I heard the sound of someone running down the hall towards me and I looked behind to see Agent Rollins trying to catch up.
<BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!>
With the sound of someone firing that damn machine-gun down the hallway, I used my sock covered feet slide the last 10 feet into the door’s push bar and enter the stairwell in one smooth motion.
<Bang!><Bang!>
Agent Rollins’ weapon fired two more quick shots out in the hallway. I dropped onto my stomach and poked my head out the door. I ignored the pain of my damn breasts getting smashed under my body. How in the hell do women do this? I mean, lie on their stomachs without smashing their breasts. Agent Rollins was pinned down next to a closed doorway while two men wearing paramedic uniforms and holding what looked like Uzi’s jumped out of a doorway and fired at Agent Rollins.
<Bang!>
<BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!><BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!>
Agent Rollins got off one shot before he crumpled to the floor as the rounds from the bad guys slammed into his body.
“Fuuuuck me!” I said suddenly realizing that I needed to get my ass down the stairs before those guys got me. I heard the door close on its own, then slam back open after I had only managed to get three floors down.
“The bitch went down here!” A man’s yelled as I concentrated on getting my ass down the stairs as fast as possible without killing myself for them.
<Bang!>.
“Uhhgg”
“Shit! God damn it!” A different man’s voice said with anger.
<BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!><BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!><BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!>
Just how many rounds of ammo do those bastards have? I think that Rollins or someone managed to get another shot off at them. I used the precious seconds they wasted on shooting Rollins, again, to get down to the second floor.
“You hear that bitch? Your boy just got splattered!” The same man yelled down the stairs.
I kept as close to the wall as possible. I did not want the dude to be able to just aim his weapon down the open part in the middle of the stairs and hit me. That didn’t stop the asshole from wasting another second to fire a burst down the middle anyway.
<BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!>
I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. I screamed with panic as I heard the sound of him firing down the the stairs and the bullets ricocheting off the railings. His delay allowed me to make it to the fire escape door on the ground level. I hit the open bar on the door and pushed it open.
“There she is!” I heard someone yell. I looked toward the sound of the voice and 30 feet away, I saw four men dressed in black combat outfits and carrying the same Uzi things running toward me.
Shit!
The bastards up stairs were just herding me. I pulled the door closed as I jumped back into the stair well. I heard the sound one person’s booted feet running down the stairs.
Double shit!
The only way for me to go was down. I got halfway down the stairs just as I heard someone bang on the door from outside.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I pulled open the basement door and raced down the darkened hallway. I knew exactly where I was since I had spent so much time down here today. I only hoped that the dark hallways would help me somehow and maybe they would give up because who in their right mind would attack a VA Hospital?
<Slam!>
I heard the stairwell door open just as I turned the corner that lead towards Brenda’s desk. It looked like they weren’t going to give up so easily.
Shit.
They had someone, a lot of armed someones, at the back door. What if they had more armed someones at the elevators? The maintenance door! I just prayed that the thing wasn’t locked.
I turned the handle and the door rattled against the bars holding it closed from this side.
Crrraaap! I don’t have time for this!
I slammed the bar open and pulled on the door again. It opened with the squealing of rusted hinges. Without time to think about it, I jumped in and closed the door behind me with another protest from the hinges. I searched for some way to lock it from the inside, but except for the door handle, there was nothing. I guess that is why they had a bar on the other side.
Grrrr. It is not going to take them long to spot this door and the bar hanging down. I abandoned the idea of locking the door and raced down the stairs instead. I needed to find someplace to hide. It wasn’t until I hit the bottom of the stairs and plotted my path that I noticed that a) there were no lights on in the room, b) I could see perfectly and c) everything was in gray scale instead of color. Finally, I found one good thing about being a Dark Elf!
The area down there was huge and full of strange equipment with pumps and dirty pipes that twisted in every direction with narrow paths leading every which way. I figured that maybe I could buy some time for the cavalry to arrive by hiding amongst the pipes and crap.
I just picked a random direction and ran as deep into the pipe jungle as possible. I discovered two benefits of being a trim 135 lb girl. One, I was in shape. Before my change, all this running would have killed me before the bullets and also, I could squeeze past the tightest of spaces with ease. Although, I did manage to pinch my breasts a few times while squeezing through an especially tight spot. I also figured that the tight spaces would slow the bastards down a little. I found a wall just as I heard the door open from above.
“Down here!” A new someone yelled.
Shit! Now what?
I didn’t know what to do now. I started to feel myself start to tear up at the thought of poor Agent Rollins and Agent Thompson getting shot by those bastards. I just wished that I could have cast a spell; any spell would have been nice. Especially, Vylencia’s bubble spell. If I had been able to cast that, I could have protected Agent Rollins while I whipped out some good old fashioned face melting with her Vampiric and Dark spells. Those bastards wouldn’t have stood a chance.
I “felt” something draw me to my right and I found another steel doorway. This door looked even older than the one upstairs. It also had a thick steel bar holding it closed. I was able to read “No Admittance - Authorized Personal Only” painted in a faded white block letter.
“Where the fuck are the lights?” A different someone asked.
Bam! The lights snapped on in the room, well mostly. I think that someone upstairs was looking out for me because the light on my side of the room was broken. I wasted no time. I lifted the bar off the door as quickly and carefully as I could. I tried to not make any noise, but that was clearly the extent of my upstairs help because it clanked when I set it on the floor.
“I heard something! Over there!” Someone shouted.
Keeeyrap!
Where in the hell are the cops? Hell, a SWAT team would be real nice right about now.
“This bitch better be worth it! Why in the hell does the boss want her anyway?” A man said with frustration and a touch of whine in his voice.
“Shut it, Reese! You’re getting paid too much to worry about that.” A different man said. He sounded like the leader of this little group.
“Come heeere little elf bitch. I promise not to hurt ya if ya come out nicely now.” The leader said with a totally fake and cheerful voice.
I prayed that the door would open and it did, but not without some effort...
<Scrreeeechh>
...and noise. I pulled as hard as I could, but I was only able to open it a few inches before it stopped moving. I desperately forced my body through the narrow opening. Pinching my breasts painfully in the process, but I got through and that is what mattered most.
“God damn it! Get her!” The leader yelled.
<BRRRRRRAAPPPPP!>
One of the dudes fired his Uzi and I heard the rounds ricochet off the door with a ringing sound. I knew that I hated opening the heavy ass door, but thank god the door was solid steel and at least a half an inch thick.
“Alive damn it! We need her alive you idiot!” The leader yelled.
I think that I was starting to piss them off. I didn’t bother wasting time trying to pull the door closed. I found myself in a very old and very dirty tiled hallway with over half of the tiles missing or broken into smaller pieces. The ceiling used to be a drop ceiling, but all the ceiling tiles had long fallen and added to the dirt and debris on the floor. Amazingly, there was sort of a path down the middle. It looked like someone halfway cleared a path by just pushing stuff to the side.
I ran down the hall as carefully as I could in my sock covered feet. I didn’t want to step on something sharp. Slicing my foot open would slow me down more than just being a little more cautious with my steps. After 20 feet, I passed an open doorway. I didn’t bother looking in, but I thought I saw an old chalkboard with some writing on it still hanging from one of the walls. What was left of the decor screamed World War II to me.
20 feet after the doorway, I found a flight of stairs leading further down and into the complex. I carefully and quickly threaded my way down the stairs. I am glad that I was careful, because one of the steps had the remains of a broken beer bottle on it. Someone had been down here and from the look of the bottle, much more recently than World War II. That meant that there was a way out since I doubted that whoever was drinking beer down here came in via the same door I did.
At the bottom of the steps, there was a T intersection and both directions looked equally promising. I was about to go right when I heard the door hinges from squeal in agony a someone forced it to open further.
“Son of a fucking A! This bitch had better be fucking worth it Simmons!” The man who sounded like Reese said as his voice echoed down the hallway.
Something told me to go left instead right, so I did. This hallway wasn’t as full of debris as the first hallway. There wasn’t a drop ceiling in this part to fall down and make a mess, but there were still a few random beer cans mixed in with other debris. I passed a few more open and broken doorways and an old water fountain before the hallway ended at another T intersection after about 40 feet. Trusting my instincts, I went right this time.
The hallway turned left after 10 feet and it went for another 30 feet before ending at another steel door. Unlike my previous steel doors, this one was already open. I could hear the bastards making noise behind me, but I think that they were taking their time to make sure that I wasn’t hiding in any of the rooms along the way. I kept hearing them say things like, “Clear!”, “Move it!”, “Shit!” and more F-bombs than I care to repeat. A sign was painted on the wall next to the doorway; I was able to make out a faded arrow pointing toward the door with equally faded letters that read. “Battery Chester”
I wasted no time running through the doorway. Inside, I found a small landing that led to a short flight of stairs leading down. I quickly and carefully made my way down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, I found a large concrete room with a slightly rusted steel rail bolted to the ceiling. The floor here was surprisingly free of debris. I saw two large exits in this room and lots of random spray painted graffiti slogans that said things like, Tunnel Rats, Kilroy was here, John <hearts> Gloria, Beer, etc..
Trusting my instincts, I headed for the larger opening that the rail ran towards. That took me to a wide concrete hallway that went to a large set of closed steel doors. Maybe the doors would lead to a way out of this place and to safety. As I headed toward the doors, a narrow set of concrete stairs that lead further down caught my attention. I cast a nervous glance behind me and realized that I could no longer clearly hear the bastards hunting me, but I could still hear an occasional bang or clang as doors where kicked open.
I decided to take a chance and take the stairs down. My instincts had somehow been right so far. The floor here was also clear of debris, so I ran as fast as I could down the hall. I passed four or five broken industrial light fixtures during my dash down the narrow hallway until came across an even narrower concrete hallway on my right. I looked back again and spotted a man’s booted feet walk past the stairs I had just ran down. It didn’t look like he spotted me and I wasted no time taking the narrow hallway. It just felt like the right path to take.
I must have jogged through the tunnels in what felt like a random path for five to ten minutes. It was kind of hard to tell exactly how long I ran, but I never ran into a dead end. I figured that I must have been doing something right. I was even starting to feel hopeful about escaping and finding a way out of this place. With all the graffiti in here, there had to be a way out. That hopeful feeling went away when I heard the sounds of people speaking in hushed tones from somewhere ahead of me. The sounds were coming from the hallway that I was just about to turn onto.
Brakes!
My heart jumped out of my chest as I quickly stopped before I blundered around the corner and right into the line of fire of the bastard’s hunting me. I didn’t hear any shouts from ahead of me, so I decided that there was one advantage to not having any shoes on; I made less noise as I moved. With my back to the wall, I listened for sounds of pursuit from behind me. I heard a clang, but it sounded fairly muted and I might not have even heard it if I wasn’t really paying attention. I guessed that I had a good lead on the group that followed me in from the hospital. Maybe I could circle back and somehow dodge them long enough for the cops, whom I was sure would be swarming these tunnels soon, to rescue me.
Fuck! Just who in the hell are these bastards and how in the hell did they get ahead of me?
Since I could see perfectly well in the pitch black, I decided to risk a peek around the corner to see if I could spot the people ahead of me without them spotting me. Kneeling down, I took a quick peek around the corner. About 100 feet ahead, two men and one woman were exploring a large room with head-lamps and a small handheld video camera.
“This place is amazing Tom! How did you find this?” The woman asked.
“Well, I saw it on some TV show and figured out where it might be, then after a month of me and Roger hunting, we finally found the hidden entrance.” Tom said with a touch of pride.
“Yeah dude, it was pretty fucking awesome!” Roger said excitedly.
I heaved a sigh of relief. These guys were just normal people down here having some fun exploring the place and showing off to their girlfriend.
Crap.
I needed to somehow get past them without being spotted and find the exit. I doubted that they would spot me if I stayed out of their lights, but I’d have to stop and hide until they went past me. That made me wonder what would happen to them if they ran into the bad guys with the Uzi’s. I figured that the bad guys would probably just kill them. At least, that is what the bad guys on TV would have done to the poor helpless explorers in the same situation.
Double Crap.
I couldn’t just leave them down here to get shot, plus maybe they could help me find the exit faster. I didn’t have a lot of time to waste figuring things out or explaining it to them. I had to somehow how convince them to not freak out when they saw me and leave now.
Maybe the direct approach would work? I casually stepped out and walked down the short hallway that led to them. “Hey? Umm, do you guys know how to get out of this place?” I asked from the darkness.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. White Queen, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler, Joker and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note:Earlier this week, I received a gentle reminder that this story existed and I felt guilty that it has been so long since my last update. Sorry. Life has been a bit busy and I've been trying to get Whisper finished. A special thanks goes out to Lilith and all of the real CRU authors for providing such an interesting Universe to play in. Hope ya all enjoy. Thanks to djkauf for editing. Enjoy!
To their credit, they didn’t freak out. Well, not right away anyway. One of the dudes shined his light on me, but after I blocked my face with my hands, the girl knocked it down.
“Hey! Blinding someone with the light is just not cool!” She said.
“Umm, thanks. I really hate to mention this, but there is a bunch of guys with Uzi’s or something down here right now. You should really get out now before they get here.”
They all just looked at each other with disbelief written all over their faces. “Huh?” The rude dude with the flashlight asked.
“We don’t have much time. I was in the VA hospital when some people with Uzi’s opened fire.” I decided to skip the part about them specifically hunting me. “Hey, they killed two DMA agents, I ran down here and for some reason, they followed me.”
The woman looks a little worried, but her two friends look much more skeptical. “We should get out of here.” She said.
“No way! That’s not possible.” Rude Dude said.
“Yeah, you’re making it up. That kinda shit only happens in the movies!” The other dude said.
[Clang!]
I heard the faint sound of something metal hitting a pipe or something from behind me. It sounded like the nuts were getting closer. It didn’t look like these guys hear the sound. So, I took a few more steps forward and angled myself to go around them while trying to stay out of their light. I wouldn’t want them to see what I really look like right now. If one of them yells or screams, the Uzi dudes will be sure to come running.
“What if she’s telling the truth?” The woman asks.
“Well, I thought I heard some sirens before we came down here...” The less rude dude mentions.
“Umm, guys? We really need to bail, now. I thought I heard something a few seconds ago. They might be getting closer.” I said as I edged my way past them while staying out of their light. I faced down the hall, in the direction that it looked like they came from. It felt like the right direction and now, if they turned around, they would be following me. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to tell that I wasn’t exactly human anymore. Well, they might notice my silver hair, but that probably wouldn not enough to cause a freak out. I hoped.
“Man...we just got here and I wanted to show Kristen the prisoner cells...” The rude dude said.
[Ka-lang!] Followed by the sound of something large and metal falling over from the direction that I just came from caused them all to jump. The muffled sounds of someone yelling at someone else caused them to all look at each other with the realization that maybe I wasn’t crazy. To his credit, Rude Dude took the initiative.
“This way! Come on.” He fiercely whispered to his two friends as they all turned to follow me. They kept their lights on the ground and walls instead of on me. That helped me in two ways. One, it kept them from really trying to look at me and two, it kept my night vision intact.
Fortunately, we didn’t have far to go, but having the dudes behind whispering “right” or “left” helped get me to the exit faster than I would have been able to just using my own internal guidance feelings. We entered into a large open room that except for an old steel ladder looked like a dead end.
“Up! Ladies first” Rude Dude said.
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t that rude and I totally didn’t feel at all bad about being a “lady” right now. I went first with Kristen right on my heels.
“Oh my god! Where are your shoes?” She asked as we both scrambled up the ladder.
Instead of answering her, I just kept climbing. “Come on!” I said as I opened up a small gap on her. I heard more sounds from my hunters as they got closer to us. I did not want these folks to get hurt, but without any useful powers, there wasn’t anything else that I could do right now.
The top of the ladder turned out to be a small concrete pillbox that, except for a small dirt tunnel, looked like a dead end. I could smell the fresh night air coming from the tunnel, so I jumped through and clawed my way out. It was only a foot or two long, but it was tight and after all the tunnels I felt nothing but relief when I popped out of the earth. The fresh night air made me feel like a million bucks. I looked up and saw nothing but trees and a hill. Down, there was an almost invisible path leading to my current position that lead to a paved walking path 100 feet below.
I heard Kristen struggling to get out of the hole, so I turned to lend her a hand.
“Eeek!” She screamed when she finally saw my face and eyes in the moonlight. Reflexively, she tried to go back down the tunnel, but I already had a hold of her hand and I pulled her out instead. I am not that strong, so it helped that she was pushed out from the other side by one of the guys. Kristen looked fearfully at me as I pulled her the rest of the way out so that the guys could follow her.
“Shhhh.” I said to her desperately as the not rude dude wiggled his way out of the tunnel followed immediately by Rude Dude and the sound of a three round burst from a machine gun. I tugged on Kristen’s hand for her to follow me down the trail.
“Son of a bitch! Let’s get the fuck outta here!” Rude Dude said as he starting to scramble down the trail behind Kristen and me.
Being barefoot sucked, but at least I could see and avoid the worst foot shredding parts of the trail. I thought that I was doing pretty good, until I felt someone grab me from behind and toss me over their shoulders like I weighed nothing.
“Come on! We don’t have time! Why aren’t you wearing shoes?” Rude Dude growled as he raced down the slope at break neck speeds with me bouncing unceremoniously on his shoulders. Miraculously, we made it to the paved walkway without breaking anything. He set me on my feet and turned back to check on the progress of his friends.
I looked up and saw some light coming from the tunnel. The assholes were almost out. “Which way?!?” I asked, trying to not yell.
“That way, run!” Rude Dude hoarsely whispered as his buddy and Kristen sprinted past me. I didn’t have to be told twice, I followed. The pavement was mostly good on my bare feet. I managed to run behind Kristen and not step on anything sharp.
[Crack!][Crack!][Crack!]
I heard the rapid sound of someone firing their weapons behind us accompanied by the sounds of something whizzing through the trees and impacting stuff. That helped us run even faster.
“Holy shit!” Kristen screamed just before we turned around the corner of a the hillside and I saw the blessed sight of a mostly empty parking lot less than 20 yards ahead of us. Mostly empty because there was also a small SUV parked in the lot and I prayed that it was their SUV. The sounds of keys jangling in the hands of Rude Dude as he put on a burst of speed and passed me made me feel somewhat relieved. Maybe we could get out of here without getting shot after all.
The SUV’s lights flashed as Rude Dude hit his remote to open the doors. He quickly jumped in driver’s seat with Kristen and me racing each other be the first to reach the back seats. I’d like to say that I was the perfect gentleman and waited on her, but I wasn’t, I’m not anymore and I didn’t.
The engine roared to life and before I could get my door completely closed, the tires chirped as Rude Dude floored the accelerator and we careened out of the lot by the most direct route possible. We jumped the curb and turfed the grass to reach the road and race away from the assholes with guns.
“Holy...fucking...shit! That was fucking insane!”” Rude Dude and his buddy in the front seat screamed at each other as we raced down the road. It took us less than a minute to reach the relative safety of a street with some other traffic on it.
**
My stomach is feeling a little delicate all of a sudden. Jen is leaning forward and she looks a bit tense. She has totally forgotten her wine. “What?! Come on! You can’t stop there. What happened?”
“Umm, sorry, but I have to go to the bathroom. The wine is running right through me or something.” I say, trying to sound apologetic, but I kind of need a break. Re-living the events from less than six hours ago is a bit stressful.
“Ally? Are you okay?” Jen asks as I rush to the bathroom.
My saliva has that weird, pre-barf taste and I feel like I might toss my cookies, and pee. I just hope that I don’t do them both at the same time. I reach the bathroom, rush over to the toilet and out of habit; I lift the lid and the seat together. I am still not sure if I am going to toss my cookies. So, I quickly put the seat back down because grabbing onto the less than clean porcelain lip is a bit gross. I start to pant as I feel spit pouring out of my mouth, but after a few seconds my stomach calms down and my breathing comes under control.
“Ally? Oh my god! Ally! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Jen asks as she races to my side.
“Hehe, umm, I’m not sure...I just felt a bit, umm, I don’t know, scared or something. It kind of hit me all of a sudden as I remembered how scared I was down in those tunnels.” I say as slowly stand back up, grab some toilet paper and wipe my mouth, and then I remember that I still have to pee. So, I quickly pull down my borrowed pants, dig the panties out of my butt, sit down and let go like a pro; completely ignoring the fact that Jen is standing right next to me. I also manage to ignore the fact that I have Jen’s sexy black thong panties around my knees.
Okay, so I do notice them and that just hits home to me just how weird the last few days have been. I stare at them, completely lost in thought.
“Ally?” Jen asks as she gently touches my shoulder.
Her touch snaps me back to reality. “What?” I ask.
“We can stop now if you want to. Maybe get some sleep or something?” Jen ask as she stifles a yawn.
“No, I’m fine. I’m nocturnal now, remember? It’s like mid-afternoon for me.” I say with a touch of bitterness as I grab a wad of toilet paper as an additional reminder of my new life. Feeling a little ashamed at myself, I purposely avoid looking at Jen as I pull up my borrowed panties and stretchy workout pants.
“Are you sure?” Jen asks dubiously.
“Yep! I’m fine!” I turn and smile at her as I wash my hands. “See?”
Jen doesn’t look convinced, so I splash some cold water on my face to help freshen up, then once done, I turn back to face her. “Really. I’m good now, but we can stop if you’re too tired to continue...”
Jen gently grabs my shoulders and studies my eyes, concern evident in her expression. “How about we just take a small break and not talk about anything? Just be with each other and see how you feel after that? I’m no expert, but it kinda sounds like you might have some post traumatic stress thing going on and after everything you’ve gone through, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
I manage to nod my head. “Sure, umm, thanks.” I say, then sigh with a larger feeling of relief than I expected.
Jen looks relieved as she smiles at me. “I’ll meet you out there, I need to go pee too.”
“Hehe, sure.” I say as I give her quick hug then, leave the room to give her some privacy to do her business.
Jen joins me on the couch a minute or two later, then gestures for me to join her by laying my head on her legs.
“What am I going to do, Jen?” I ask, looking up at her as I make myself comfortable.
“Shhh, let’s not worry about that right now. Just close your eyes and relax for a few. Try not to think about anything.” Jen says.
Easier said than done, but I manage to use Doctor Random’s meditation techniques as Jen gently runs her fingers through my hair. It is very relaxing and if I was tired, I would probably fall asleep. After five minutes, I look up and notice that Jen’s eyes are starting to droop when her hand stops petting my hair.
I decide to get up and fetch her a blanket, but my motion startles her to alertness. “What?”
“Umm, I was just going to get you a blanky or something. You were falling asleep there.” I say.
Jen yawns, stretches and wakes herself up. “Oh no you don’t! I wanna hear what happened.”
“Jen, it’s after 3 AM. Why don’t you just take a short nap or something? I can wake you up in an hour or two.” I say.
“Liar! You would just let me sleep and we both know it. Now, sit!” Jen says, pointing back at my side of the couch.
Reluctantly, I sit back down, but stall for time by freshening my wine glass. I am surprised that the wine isn’t hitting me as hard as I expected with my reduced stature. I feel the pleasure of alcohol hitting my system, but it seems to go away very rapidly. I’ve drank three full glasses to Jen’s one and a half and I don’t feel at all drunk. I take a casual sip and make the mistake of glancing back at Jen to see if she is trying to fight staying awake.
She’s not.
“Now, spill it.” Jen says.
“Okay, okay, meanie...now, where was I? Oh yeah! So...”
**
Kristen sat in the back with me. She was in the passenger side rear seat, while I was on the driver’s side, but she was huddled against her door and as far away from me as possible. She looked like she wasn’t sure what she was more afraid of right now. Me, or the assholes that tried to shoot us.
“Hey! Are you two, ahhh!” The non-rude dude said as he turned back to check on the two girls in the back seat and saw me for the first time.
That reaction caused Rude Dude to swerve the car a bit as he tried to look behind him to see what his buddy got so upset about. “What? Are they fucking following us?” He asked.
“N-n-nooo, but the girl from the tunnels isn’t...ummm.” The other dude trailed off with confusion as I tried to look as nonthreatening as possible.
“Umm, I’m sorry, but I’m a metahuman. You can just let me off here and I won’t cause you all any trouble. I’m sorry that I got you all involved.” I said while I barely managed to not to cry with frustration. Based on my experiences at the hospital, at the restaurant and on the fact that racism and mutant phobia is common, I knew that my appearance would cause people to react to me and hate me, but after the latest bit of proof from the assholes with guns, I felt more than just a little tired of it all. Maybe I could flag down a cop and get some help that way. Or, maybe the cops would just try to shoot me like the rookie at my mom’s, I mean at Kim’s hospital, wanted to.
Rude Dude pulled the car over to the curb and I reached for the door handle, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. “No, we can’t just leave her here like this. She needs our help.” Kristen said as Rude Dude twisted around in his seat to look at both Kristen and me.
“What?! Kristen, because of her, we all almost got shot down there and you want to help her?” The Other Rude Dude asked incredulously.
I decided that I liked Rude Dude better. Silently, Rude Dude studied Kristen as she looked at him with a pleading expression. Then,he turned to look at me before he turned back to face the front again.
I have seen that pleading, puppy dog expression before and I know how futile it was to try to resist it when Jen directed it at me. Rude Dude was doomed, but I still tried to get out of the car again just make it look like I didn’t need their help, even though I did.
Kristen held me back. “No, wait.” She said.
Rude Dude punched the top of the dash in frustration. “Okay! We help her, but how?”
“What the fuck!? We don’t even know her damn name!” The Other Rude Dude said.
“Umm, sorry, it’s Valerie. Valerie Wilson.” I said.
“Look, Ed. Kristen is right. We can’t just leave Valerie here. What if they find her and kill her or something? Then, how would you feel?” Rude Dude asked.
That seemed to get through to The Other Rude Dude, or Ed. “Hmmm....” He smiled shamefully at me before glancing back to Rude Dude. “Umm, I guess you’re right, Tom. I’d feel like crap, but what can we do? Those guys had fucking guns and shit!”
That brought them all back to reality. The car was silent as they all furiously tried to come up with an answer. A slew of police cars and swat trucks screamed past us, heading toward the VA Hospital. “Hey, I’ll just follow them, maybe they can help. No need for you all to be in any further danger because of me.” I said.
“Valerie, wait!” Kristen said and once again, I paused in my half-hearted attempt to get out of the car. “The Con! We can take her to the Con! My aunt, Amber the Costume Goddess, has a room there. She could easily disguise her, plus with all the other people wearing costumes there, she,” Kristen gestured to me. “, would fit right in. No one would even notice her!”
Ed glanced at the dash clock. It was 8:16 PM. My how the time flies when you’re on the run from machine gun toting maniacs who are trying to kill you. He looked over at Tom and to Tom’s credit; he nodded his head in acceptance. “Okay, it should take us 20 minutes to get to the hotel. Kristen, do you have some shoes she can wear or do we need to stop for something along the way?” Ed asked looking back at the two of us.
“Umm, yeah. I have my sandals in my bag.” Kristen glances down at my feet. “They might be a touch small on her, but they should work.”
Ed smiles at Kristen. “Excellent! Can you clean her up some too? It looks like she got in a fight with a mud puddle from running around down there barefoot. I think that might attract more attention than her skin color.”
“Sure, I have some stuff in my purse.” Kristen says as she begins rooting through the back of the SUV to get her stuff together for me.
During the drive through the city streets, we all jumped a little, then nervously laughed each time a cop car went past us. Kristen called her aunt and got the okay to swing by her room at the convention hotel. Kristen tried to not sound anxious when she told her aunt that she had someone that she just had to meet about a costume. Based upon some of Kristen’s expressions to her aunt’s follow up questions, I don’t think that her aunt bought it. Especially the one where Kristen responded with, “No, I’m not in trouble. Hehe, why do you ask?”
Kristen and I managed to go through her entire pack of wipes cleaning all the dirt and grime from me, but by the time we reach the convention hotel, I was pretty sure that I didn’t look like a victim of a pig ‘rastling contest. Her sandals proved to be a size too small for my feet, but they were better than nothing.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a huge number of people dressed in a large variety of fantasy, sci-fi and anime themed costumes when we pulled up to the huge hotel that was hosting the convention. Kristen was right; I probably would fit right in here.
“Okay, I will drop you all off here, find a parking spot, and then meet you up in your aunt’s room. What room is she in again?” Ed asked as he stopped near the front doors.
“Umm, room 832.” Kristen said as I slid over to exit the SUV from the passenger side with Kristen.
“Great! See you in a few.” Ed said just before he pulled away, leaving Tom, Kristen and me standing on the sidewalk with all the other convention goers.
I looked around and even though people were looking at me, no one seems at all surprised by my appearance. Kristen and Tom looked a little lost. “Umm, your aunt’s room?” I said.
That snapped Kristen out of her daze. “Right, this way. Let’s go!” She said as we merged with the influx of convention attendees.
I did overhear a few people comment about my makeup. Things like, “Wow! I can’t wait to see her in her costume. She looks like a perfect D&D Drow Elf!” or “OMG! How did she get her hair to be so silvery and her eyes so red and real looking? Those contacts must hurt, but it’s awesome!”, and finally, the winner. “Hey, she looks like a DBO Death Priest! I can’t wait to see her priest gear. That shit is dead sexy!”
We manage to snag an elevator all to ourselves. Outside her aunt’s door, Kristen paused with her hand poised to knock on the door and nervously glanced back to an equally nervous Tom and me. “Okay, here it goes...” Kristen muttered mostly to herself as she knocked on the door.
“Hold on, I’ll be right there!” We all heard from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of the deadbolt being unlocked. The door swung inwards, and then an older woman’s face peeked out from the partially open door. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, so she wasn’t really that old. She looked very pretty with long, curly blond hair, brilliant green eyes and dark red lips. I wasn’t an expert on makeup, but what little it appeared that she was wearing, it looked to be professionally applied. She smiled fondly when she saw Kristen standing anxiously outside her door before her gaze turned to me. Then, her eyes widened with surprise as her smile briefly faltered.
“Umm, Hello Aunt Amber. Sorry to bug you, but,” Kristen pulled me forward. “She kind of needs some help with a disguise, umm, I mean a costume...” Kristen said, lying badly as Tom nervously jumped at her slip up.
Her aunt didn’t say a word as she cautiously studied Kristen and Tom for a second before her gaze once again turned to study me.
“Umm, hi?” I said with a nervous smile.
She opened her door the rest of the way and motioned for us to come in. “Come on in, you three. I will see what I can do, but not before you tell me why you all look so scared. You didn’t do anything illegal, like rob a bank or something, did you?”
Kristen jumps at that question. “No...”
“Kristen, what happened?” Aunt Amber asks.
Kristen looks at me, then Tom and she is about to reply when someone knocks on the door. “Umm, that’s probably Ed.” She said with relief.
“Go ahead and let him in then, dear, I can wait.” Aunt Amber said.
Just in case it wasn’t Ed, I moved myself to take me out of direct line of sight from the doorway. Aunt Amber followed my action with keen interest, but it was just Ed.
“Okay, now, what happened?” Aunt Amber said impatiently with her arms crossed.
We all looked at each other somewhat guiltily, with no one really wanting to be the first to speak. So, I jumped in. “It’s my fault, so I guess I can tell her.” I said as everyone’s attention turned fully upon me.
“Ummm, so, I recently manifested, I think that they are calling it that and I was at the VA hospital so that STAR labs could examine me a bit more.” I said, and then paused to look at Kristen’s Aunt Amber.
She didn’t look angry at me. “Go on...” She said.
“Well, after being tested all day, I was just resting on my bed when, umm, one of the DMA agents yanked me out of my room. Someone was firing automatic weapons inside of the hospital!” I look over to Kristen and the guys. They look a little surprised, but I don’t blame them since we never really talked about it during the ride here. For Aunt Amber and them, I detailed my escape down and into the tunnels below the hospital. Aunt Amber stopped me once to hand me a tissue. I didn’t even realize that my eyes were starting to leak.
I explained how I was able to navigate my way through the tunnels and how scared that I was to bump into Kristen, Tom and Ed, because at first, I thought that they were more bad guys. Tom took over the story from there and explained it all from his side, which I found a relief because for some reason, I was really struggling to keep my eyes dry.
Tom ended with, “...and then Kristin called you, so, umm, now we are here. Is there anything you can do to help her?”
Aunt Amber silently looked over the trio before turning her gaze to me again. She pursed her lips in thought. “Hmmm, Krissy, do you remember what my car looks like?” She asked.
“Umm, yes, I think so, why?” Kristen asked.
“Can you and the boys go down to my car,” Aunt Amber pointed at her car keys. “, and retrieve the suitcase with the white string while I speak with, umm...” Aunt Amber said, pausing since we all forgot to introduce me to her.
“Valerie, sorry.” I said.
“Yes! Valerie. No worries, dear. While Valerie and I have a little chat until you get back with my extra costume case?”
“Sure, no problem, Aunt Amber.” Kristin said as she scooped up the keys and hustled the boys out of the room with a nervous glance in my direction. Tom and Ed happily followed Kristen out of the room.
Aunt Amber waited for a few seconds after the door closed behind them before she calmly walked over and activated the deadbolt lock. That done, she turned back to study me. “So, you’re a dark elf and that is your real skin color, not makeup. How old are you really?” She asked.
Her question surprised me. “Sorry?”
“How old are you? I know that you’re not really as young as you appear, so how old are you?”
“Umm, 27.” I said.
“27, okay and how long have you been a girl?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer her question because she seemed to know or think that I wasn’t really a girl. I mean, really am a girl now, but not always. How did she know? “Ummm...” I said.
“Look, Valerie. I attend a lot of these conventions and believe me when I tell you this. Con goers are VERY in tune and knowledgeable about magic and super powers. Especially now that Jade and all the other metahumans are in the headlines. So, the question wasn’t that hard, dear. How long?”
“Umm, three days...” I said with a whisper as I looked away in shame. I was scared that she was going to laugh at me or even worse, tell me to leave because she couldn’t help a freak like me.
“Oh dear. I’m so sorry, but I had to know so that I will know what I am working with here.” Aunt Amber said, sounding perfectly sincere and compassionate.
“You’re not going to kick me out?” I asked, incredulous.
Aunt Amber laughed. “Oh, heavens no, dear! I am Amber the Costume Goddess and as such, I have the perfect costume for you, but we do need to get you cleaned up a bit more.” She said
“Huh?” I asked, feeling a little stunned.
“You need to take a quick shower to get the rest of the muck from the tunnels off because the costume I have in mind for you does show a lot of skin. More than you might be comfortable with showing, but no one and I do mean no one; will ever guess that it is really you hiding in plain sight.” Aunt Amber said with a mischievous grin that kind of scared me a little.
“Umm, okay?” I said, not really sure what to think at this point.
Aunt Amber rooted through one of her makeup cases and handed me a shower cap. “Here, use this. Don’t get your hair wet. We won’t have time to dry it if you do.” She said as she pushed me into the room’s bathroom and closed the door behind me.
I stood rooted in the middle of the bathroom floor, feeling a bit stunned by the turn of events. I looked at the shower cap in my hand, then over at the bathroom mirror. I looked like crap. Well, a hot mess anyway. Despite our best efforts on the way here, my clothes were still a bit dirty.
“Hurry up, dear! We need to get a moving.” Aunt Amber yelled from the room, snapping me out of my shock.
“Sorry!” I yelled as I rapidly stripped down, stuffed my hair into the shower cap and started the shower. I didn’t have time to think about, nor did I give myself time to think about the fact that I was standing naked in the shower again. My last shower attempt did not go so well. It went better this time. Well, at least I didn’t run out of the shower dripping wet and crying.
To keep myself from noticing, well, myself. I pretended to be late for work. I got wet, then scrubbed myself with the standard tiny sized hotel provided bar of soap as rapidly as possible while simultaneously rinsing. I followed that masterfully fast performance with jumping out of the shower, grabbing a towel and rubbing myself dry as if I was putting out a fire. My more sensitive skin did not appreciate the rough treatment, but that technique allowed me to get through my second shower experience without freaking out too badly.
Then, the door opened and I jumped back a few feet as I scrambled to wrap the towel around my body. “Relax, dear. You don’t have anything that I haven’t seen before. Well, except for the blue skin, but I guess I have seen that too.” Aunt Amber said in a slightly chiding tone.
I managed to feel a little ashamed of myself for feeling so shy, but only a little because she did surprise me by not knocking. She had a plastic bottle of some sort in her hand. “You were pretty fast in there. That’s good. Here, rub this onto your hips, legs, arms and shoulders.” She said, handing me the bottle.
“Okkaayy, what is it?” I asked as I read the label.
“Just some skin lotion. Nothing fancy, but it will help even out your skin tone and make you look even more fabulous under the lights. Plus, it smells nice.” Aunt Amber said with a grin.
“Lights?” I asked. She didn’t answer and she didn’t leave the bathroom like I expected her to.
“Go on, rub it on. I will need to do your back for you. You want me to do that now, or after you’re done?” Aunt Amber said.
“Umm, now?” I said, somewhat tentatively. I really didn’t want to have to rub lotion all over my body, because taking a shower was bad enough.
Aunt Amber obliged me by taking the lotion bottle from my hands, then after directing me to turn around, she quickly rubbed the lotion into my shoulders and back. Finished, she spun me back around, handed me back the bottle and studied my eyes for a second. “Okay, now, finish while I put together some stuff.”
The lotion really did smell nice and it did feel good when she rubbed it into my back and shoulders. It had a sort of subtle cinnamon, spicy flower-like scent that I couldn’t quite place, but it wasn’t that bad. No, the worst part was the fact that I had to rub it on the rest of my body by myself. Okay, so it wasn’t that hard to do my arms, but except for the towel, I was buck ass naked. I felt like I was giving some hot girl’s legs a massage as I rubbed the lotion onto my own legs. It was just so hard to disassociate what I was seeing with my eyes and feeling with my hands from my male mind as rubbed my silky smooth legs with the lotion.
I was helped along by the sound of Kristen and the guys returning to the room. “Here ya go, Aunt Amber!” Kristen said, sounding slightly muffled by the closed bathroom door.
“Thank you, Krissy! Here are some Con passes for you and your friends, but before you can join them, I am going to need your help getting Valerie ready. Do you mind?” Aunt Amber asked.
“Oh! No! Not at all Aunt Amber! I love helping you with your costumes. What will you need me to do?” Kristen asked.
I couldn’t hear what Aunt Amber said to Kristen, but less than a minute later, I heard the guys yell their goodbyes as they were hurried out of the room. Then the bolt and the chain were used to secure the door behind them.
“Okay, Valerie, the coast is clear! Come on out so that we can get started with your amazing transformation!” Aunt Amber yelled through the bathroom door.
I hastily re-wrapped the towel around my body even tighter before I nervously poked my head out of the door.
Aunt Amber spots me and motions for me to come on out. “Come, Come! Don’t be shy. We don’t have all day. I need to measure you so that I can get your costume altered, then while I do that, Krissy will help get your wig and contacts on.”
“Umm, what about my clothes?” I asked.
“Those filthy rags? Don’t worry about them. I will put them in a garbage bag for you later. Now, come!” Aunt Amber said as I took a hesitant step out from the relative safety of the bathroom.
“Okay, come over here and lose the towel. I need to measure you.” Aunt Amber said, pointing to a spot in the floor directly in front of the room’s full length mirror. She held a tape measure in her hand and Kristen was holding a pen and notepad at the ready. She looked excited to be a part of her Aunt’s endeavor. Kristen didn’t look at all shocked by my protective towel clad appearance, nor did she look like she was waiting for me to remove the towel so that she could laugh at me.
I nervously dropped the towel on the floor, completely exposing myself to the both of them. Aunt Amber had already seen me naked, so she didn’t even twitch. She got right down to the business of measuring me. Kristen could not contain herself. “Wow! Valerie, you look so amazing! I’m like totally jealous.”
“26, waist. excellent!” Aunt Amber said, jarring Kristen back to the task at hand. Aunt Amber continued with the measurements as Kristen dutifully transcribed them for her.
“Okay, all done here. I will only need to make a few minor alterations. You are slightly smaller in the waist than my original model. While I do that, Kristen, can you take Valerie into the bathroom and put this wig on her?” Aunt Amber said as she handed Kristen a wig with long and natural looking red hair. She also handed Kristen a box of hair pins.
Then, still a whirlwind of activity, Aunt Amber handed me a pair of white bikini bottoms. “Valerie, put this part of the costume on for now. The rest will come when I am done with the alterations.”
I could only stare at the bikini in my hand with stunned disbelief as Kristin happily dragged me, unresisting into the bathroom. The fact that I was totally naked in a room with people I didn’t even know until very very recently was totally forgotten by me.
Kristen closed the door behind us. Then, she turned back to me. “Isn’t this so cool?! I can’t wait to see what costume she has for you! Hey, you should put those on now.” She said, gesturing to the bikini I held in my hand. “No sense in being naked while I fix your hair and pin this wig on you. It could take awhile.”
I stared at the bikini thing and tried to puzzle out which side was the front. I couldn’t tell for sure because the amount of fabric on both sides appeared to be the same, but one side did have an extra layer of fabric. I guessed correct, because Kristen didn’t laugh or try to stop me when I bent over and slid them up my even smoother, moisturized legs. The small amount of fabric covering my butt felt awkward and the thin, string-like waistband dug into my hips. Then, Kristen helped me by tugging the annoying waistbands up until they ended up well past the top of my hips. That got rid of the too-tight feeling and it made my legs look even longer.
“Oh, thanks.” I said, even though I was trying not to die on the inside from the embarrassment of finding myself mostly naked and in the presence of an attractive woman who wasn’t my mom or my girlfriend while wearing something that would have looked downright comical on me last week. That’s if I could have managed to squeeze my fat ass or my junk into them in the first place.
Kristen beamed a happy smile at me. “No problem Valerie! Let’s get started on your hair now, shall we?” Kristen asked as she spun me around so that I was facing the mirror.
I tried to cover my breasts, but Kristen handed me a box of hair pins. “Here, can you hold these for me?” She asked.
I gave up trying to cover myself, just stood there and focused on what Kristen was doing with my hair. She brushed it, then pulled on it, then twisted it this way and that way. Then, she put a shit ton of pins in my hair to pull it back and pin it all up behind my head. She must have put 40 or 50 pins in my hair, and that was before she put the wig on. The wig took another 20 to 30 pins before she was satisfied with how it looked and held itself to my head. I had to admit that it looked pretty natural when she was done with it and I couldn’t see a single hairpin.
“Done with the hair!” Kristen yelled.
Aunt Amber walked after a few seconds with two small boxes in her hand. She set them on the counter. “Z-Gothika Yellow Sclera Contact Lenses” I managed to read before she distracted me by gently tugging on the wig. “Looks good, Kristen. You remember how to properly apply full eye lenses, right?” She asked.
“Yep! Not a problem Aunt Amber!” Kristen said with a pleased smile after passing her Aunt’s inspection.
She didn’t have a problem with the lenses, but I did. It was a little disconcerting to have her poking my eyes with her fingers as she installed the lenses. She was fast and precise as she applied the lenses, and not once did she poke my eye more than necessary. I never needed prescription glasses and as a result, I also never needed to wear contact lenses. I did have more than a few eye exams where the doctor did the pressure test, so I was able to grin and bear Kristen’s ministrations.
The effect was effing amazing to see though. My eyes looked scary evil before, but now they looked positively awesomely evil. The contacts felt a little weird, but they weren’t painful, just different. I wasn’t sure who she was going to make me look like. Maybe she was going to put me into a DBO or fantasy Dark Elf costume, but I kind of hoped it was going to be Mystique. She was the only superhero that I knew about that had blue skin. I’m not sure what color her eyes were, but I think that she had red hair. Plus, I really liked her character’s history. She was evil, but not irredeemably evil.
“Okay, Aunt Amber, we are done. What now?” Kristen said as she poked her head out of the bathroom.
“Come on out, the costume is ready. Valerie dear, would you mind closing your eyes? I want this to be a surprise for you.” Aunt Amber asked.
“Ummm, okay?” I said as I closed my eyes and let Kristen guide me out of the bathroom. It took every ounce of self-control to not peek or cover my breasts self-consciously. I prayed that the guys hadn’t snuck back into the room, but I don’t know why it bothered me so much. I’ve only had breasts for like three days now and prior to discovering those additions, I never worried about walking around topless. It was just strange and funny to me at the same time. It made me smile.
“You’re not peeking are you Valerie?” Aunt Amber asked suspiciously.
“Umm, sorry, no. Why?”
“Why are you smiling?”
“Umm, I was just umm, thinking about, umm, stuff?” I said as I felt my face heat up from embarrassment. I was very glad that my skin didn’t betray me.
“Okay, well, hold your arms up so I can get this over you.” Aunt Amber ordered.
I felt her slide something down my arms, then over my head and down the rest of my body. I felt mighty open down below, and a smidge weird when I felt her hands pulling my breasts into position inside the unknown outfit just before she wrapped something around my neck and zipped it up in the back. Whatever I was wearing, it left my arms, shoulders, legs and hips completely exposed. Next, she put a belt or something around my waist. It felt like she put it over my bikini’s waist to cover it or something.
Then, she stuck something to the top of my forehead, followed by lipstick and some gloves. “Okay, now, Krissy, can you guide her over to the end of the bed so that I can put her boots on? Keep your eyes closed Valerie...almost done now. You’re gonna looovve it!” Aunt Amber sang there at the end.
I felt her slide some boots onto my feet, then zip them up. They fit snugly against my calves and when she let the first leg drop to the floor, I thought that I felt a heel of some sort.
“Oh my gawd! Valerie! You look so freaking amazing!” Kristen exclaimed as Aunt Amber zipped up the last boot.
“Okay now, one more final touch. Keep them closed, but go ahead and stand up. Krissy, can you guide her over to the mirror now?” Aunt Amber asked.
“Sure!” Kristen said with a giggle as she grabbed my elbow and guided me shakily over to the mirror.
Somehow, I managed to not fall flat on my face with the sudden addition of heels on my feet. How big were these things? They felt like six inches or more.
Aunt Amber thrust something into my hands that felt suspiciously like a gun of some sort. Also, it felt too heavy to be fake. “What?” I asked.
“Okay, open your eyes!” Aunt Amber said.
I did and my eyes, contacts and all, nearly popped out of my head. I was Mystique! “Holy shit!” I said as I shifted the big ass rifle in my hands. I had to check it out to make sure it wasn’t real. It wasn’t, but holy fucking shit! I looked freaking awesome. I was completely speechless.
“Well, what do you think?” Aunt Amber, the Costume Goddess asked.
“I’m stunned. I can’t believe it. I really look like Mystique. That is who I am supposed to look like, right?” I asked, suddenly afraid that I might have insulted her by guessing wrong.
Aunt Amber surprised me with a hug. “It is and I am so glad how it turned out. You’re perfect, but I will need to put a touch of blue body paint on you, just to make people think you really are just painted blue.”
“Oh, okay, but I’m not sure about these heels. How big are they? They feel like they are six inches or something.” I asked.
Aunt Amber and Kristen both laughed at me. “Oh dear, those are only three inch heels.” Aunt Amber said with a bemused grin. “Krissy? Would you mind heading down and joining the boys while I make some finishing touches on Mystique? Don’t tell them. I want to see their reactions when they see her.”
Kristen laughed and hugged her Aunt. “Sure Aunt Amber! I can’t wait to see their faces either!” Then, she surprised me with a hug. “Wow, just wow! You’re going to knock everyone dead!”
Aunt Amber waited until Kristen was out of the room, then she re-locked the door behind her before she turned back to study me. I had not moved an inch. I was too afraid to. I don’t want to fall on my ass or break an ankle. “Okay, so, I assumed that you didn’t want anyone to know that you used to be a guy and that you have zero skills with heels, right?” She asked.
I nodded my head. “Yes, sorry.”
“Not a problem, it might actually work out better that you haven’t worn heels before.” She said.
“Huh?”
“You won’t have any bad habits and I can teach you how to walk exactly the way that I need you to walk.” Aunt Amber said with a grin that scared me a little.
“Umm, okay?” I said.
“Now, thanks to Krissy’s help, it is only a quarter after nine and we have until a quarter till ten to get you registered for the costume contest. So, I will show you how to walk. You will practice it in here for 10 to 15 minutes, then we will head down to the floor for you to get some real practice in those heels before the judging starts, okay?”
“Umm, sure?” I said, not realizing how mean she could be.
I only lasted five minutes before I questioned her expertise with her walking technique. “Why do I have to walk like this again?” I asked because I felt frustrated and silly at the same time. I swear that I looked like one of those silly models strutting some designer’s weird clothing line on the runway. Not that I ever watched a runway show or anything. Well, not for the clothes.
“One, because I told ya too, but two, because with the cut of that dress, if you walk any other way, you will be giving everyone a free show.” Aunt Amber said as she gestured toward my crotch area.
The dress did have a slit on each side that almost made it to my armpits, so I guessed that her second point was a valid one. She took the full 15 minutes to drill me mercilessly on exactly how to walk. Then, she lightly sprayed my upper arms and thighs with some blue body spray.
I thought that walking in heels was tough, but I was not prepared at all for the attention I received. It started to happen as soon as I stepped out and into the hallway outside of Aunt Amber’s room.
“Holy shit!” I heard someone exclaim from down the hallway. “It’s Mystique and she’s fucking hot!” followed by a slap as I turned to see who had spotted me. I managed to catch the angry glare of the dude’s girlfriend as she hustled her boyfriend into the elevator.
The hallway was too damn long with the elevators too far away. Especially with Amber the Costume Demon correcting my every misstep by making me walk back to her door and start over, and over, and over. It took me five minutes to reach the damn elevators. I did a little better on the convention floor, plus the Demon didn’t want to draw too much attention to my lack of girl skills. In addition to making me stop and pose for anyone who asked, even the jerks who just wanted to cop a feel on my ass. She also made me take the long way to everywhere.
“Holy shit! Kristen, why in the hell didn’t you tell us? She looks fucking amazing!” I heard Ed exclaim from nearby just as we reached the costume contest sign up booth.
“Go say hi to them while I get you signed in, Mystique.” Amber the Costume Demon ordered me. She probably just wanted me to get more practice walking. I really was starting to not like her as much, but I have to say, I absolutely slayed them when I stalked my way over to them.
Tom was rendered speechless, while Ed managed to earn a few angry glances from Kristen. “Wow, I mean, just wow. You look amazing, umm, Mystique.” Ed managed to stammer out.
“Umm, thanks and sorry Kristen. You should see how many guys have run into things while trying to sneak a look at me.” I said with a grin. I couldn’t help it. It felt good to be so noticed and wanted for a change. Creepy as hell, but nice.
Kristen ended up giggling and giving Tom a hug to show him that she forgave him. Then, she surprised me by giving me a hug too. “Hey, Tom, can you take our picture?” She yelled.
I had my picture taken by a shit ton of people and with a lot of other people dressed up as both heroes and villains. It was actually a lot of fun. Especially the ones where I pretended to be the other hero’s arch-enemy or partner in crime. The dude dressed as Magneto was especially fun to pose for pictures with. I ended up picking up a stalker, I mean, fan in a Punisher t-shirt. He must have followed me around for a good five minutes taking my picture with everyone I met.
Amber the Costume Goddess was brilliant. There was no way that anyone would ever think that I wasn’t just some normal girl who was painted blue and pretending to be Mystique. I was hiding in plain sight and it was awesome! She made it a point to rub some white makeup on my arm or thigh every now and then, she would ‘fix’ my blue skin makeup. She usually did that when we had the largest audience to witness my blue skin makeup.
The displays at the Con were awesome too. Even the entry way doors. They had these big high-tech displays at every door that had the Riddler, Joker and Batman symbols laser etched all over them complete with fake gun turret lasers that made cool patterns in the logo of the Joker, the Riddler and even Batman on the floor by the doors.
Amber stayed by my side during the entire time, except when I was posing for pictures and I even got asked to pose at the Marvel display with one of their booth babes. She was a model that had been made up to look like Emma Frost, the White Queen, before she joined the X-Men. She was hot, but I have to admit to a little bit of pride; I thought I was hotter.
Amber made out like a bandit too. She got asked to pose with me and for her card by a lot of people. I was just starting to really have fun with it, but then, on our way to the main stage for the costume contest, I spotted a pair of teenagers dressed up like the Men in Black. They reminded me of Agent Rollins and the DMA. That further reminded me of the VA Hospital and the nurse that I was rude to, Stephanie. God, I hoped that they were okay and that Agent Rollins wasn’t really dead.
“What’s the matter dear?” Aunt Amber asked me as she pulled me to the side and out of the main traffic flow.
“Umm, I am having fun, but now I am worried about the folks back at the hospital. I probably should have tried calling Agent Helligan or someone to let them know where I am.” I said.
“Hmm, do you know their numbers?” Aunt Amber asked, then frowned when I shook my head no.
“She gave me her card, but I left it in my purse. Which, I left back in my room along with my cell phone.” I said as my eyes started to once again tear up as the gravity of my situation started to set in once again.
Aunt Amber hugged me to her. “Shhh, don’t worry dear. I will find her number during the contest and give them a call. Okay?”
“Umm, okay?” I said as I gave her a ghost of a smile in return.
She blotted my eyes to remove the tears. “It’s a good thing you really don’t need any makeup dear, but you did make my job a bit too easy ya know?”
I looked at her, feeling confused about the easy part. I mean, I didn’t think there was anything easy about this costume. Well, except for maybe the gloves.
She giggled at my confused expression. “You are a natural and you look stunning all by yourself. You would not believe how many people have stopped to ask me how I got your body paint to look so real and all I can tell them is, ‘trade secret’. I mean, what am I going to do if someone wants me to make them look like you?”
That made me laugh and feel a lot better.
“There ya go dear.” Aunt Amber proudly smiled at me. “Now, Mystique, let’s get you up on that stage so that you can knock the judges dead!”
“But, umm, I’m not really Mystique...” I said, trying to protest against the apparently obvious.
“Ahh, but you are wrong dear. Tonight and right now, you are Mystique and everyone believes that as soon as they see you. You have made such a big impression on everyone that I am 100 percent positive that there isn’t a single soul here who could ever imagine that you are really a Dark Elf that is on the run. So, get up on that stage and ‘be’ Mystique. Have fun!” Aunt Amber said as she motioned me toward the stairs that led up and onto the stage area.
I hesitantly glanced back at Aunt Amber one final time before I ascended the stairs. She just smiled at me encouragingly. I couldn’t let her down. So, I paused, took a deep breath and became Mystique for her. I was sexy. I was dangerous. I was the enemy of the X-Men and everything they stood for. Humans and mutants could never get along. Professor X was foolish to think otherwise.
I sneered at Wolverine as I stalked across the stage. Then, I laughed when he took a reflexive step back from me. I smiled at Magneto and lazily ran my fingers across his chest as I passed him. Everyone and I do mean everyone’s eyes followed me as I stalked to my place in the lineup.
**
“Holy shit Ally! God, I wish I had been there to see that!” Jen says.
I giggle at her interruption and use that opportunity to top off my wine glass again. I can’t believe how much wine that I have drank, but I still feel perfectly fine. Well, maybe a little buzzed, but nothing like I expected after having drank so many glasses.
“Well, I am here now. You saw me in the costume.”
“Yeah, but to see you with all the other contestants as you teased them? That would have been so cool to see!” Jen says with an excited grin.
I am not sure how to respond that. “Well, umm, it kind of backfired on me though.” I say as I lean back into the couch again.
**
During the judging break, Aunt Amber came up on stage. “You looked fabulous up there Mystique!” She said as she pretended to refresh my body paint again. Then, she whispered in my ear. “So, as soon as you went up on stage, I called the DMA and they immediately transferred me to someone named Special Agent Helligan. Do you know her?” She asked.
She managed to get a hold of Agent Helligan? That surprised me. As late as it is, I expected the DMA to keep Aunt Amber on hold hell or not answer their phones at all. “Yes, she was in charge and has no sense of humor. Why? What did she say?”
“She said, ‘We don’t her to want to start a panic. Can you have her sit tight and try to not be seen by anyone? My team and I are on our way.’” Aunt Amber said with a smile. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her that you were up on stage wowing the judges and everyone here with my costume. So, I just said, ‘okay’.”
I groaned, but couldn’t help it. I had to laugh too. I figured that Agent Helligan’s expression when she finally saw me was going to be effing priceless! Now, I couldn’t wait for Special Agent Helligan to get here and see me. Well, and I wanted to find out how the other Agents were doing and if they had any idea who the jerks were and why they wanted me.
“AAAaaand, the second runner up in this year’s 10th Annual Comic-Con is....Mystique!”
That announcement earned me a quick hug from Aunt Amber before I was able to stalk back out on stage to receive my awesome prize, a big and ornate, but ultimately cheap ribbon. You know, like those ribbons they give out to kids at high school science fairs that no one really wants because they really want something useful, like money.
Would you believe that I lost to some dude in cardboard boxes that he cut and painted to make him look like an Autobot! I didn’t know what to feel about that. However; I had to admit that the dude’s costume was pretty cool and he could even fold himself up and transform into a car.
Oh well, I came in second, so I guess it wasn’t all bad. Third place was a woman dressed up to look like Witchblade. Her costume was pretty good, but it wasn’t as good as mine. Plus, the Witchblade lady was just a little too big for her costume and there were parts of it that looked more like silver painted paper mache instead of melted metal. Right or wrong, I think that the male judges took some points away from her for that.
The Witchblade lady surprised me by pulling me into a congratulatory hug when I tried to walk past her to reach my little second place box on the stage. That allowed me to spot Special Agent Helligan, Agent Kramer and Fergy, I mean Agent Ferguson, in the crowd as I stepped up and onto the second place box.
I was right. Her expression was priceless. She looked like she couldn’t decide whether or not to cause a riot by storming the stage and arresting me on the spot or shoot me right now. Ferguson and even Kramer had smiles on their faces though, so I guessed that it couldn’t be all that bad. She might get over it, eventually.
Just to add more oil to the fire, I had to smile as I aimed a salute with my fake gun in her general direction. No one else caught the joke, but she did and that made things even more enjoyable for me. She was not a happy camper. I knew that I was probably going to pay for it later, but right now, I was pretty damn happy. I was even happy to see her, but there was no way that I would ever admit that to her.
[BOOM!]
The entire room shook and I ducked as something on the ceiling flashed and exploded, causing the shards of glass from the huge 20 to 30 foot diameter skylight to rain down on everyone that was directly in front of the stage. Before the dust could settle and anyone could react, a horde of green and black clad, machine gun toting men rappelled into the room from the shattered skylight. Everyone in the room was too shocked to even think about running, but as soon as they did, the huge displays at all the exits suddenly lit up with sparks, whistles and pyrotechnics just before they split in two and revealed a pair of huge green barrels with an old-fashioned alarm clock stuck to them. Everyone stopped trying to rush out the doors.
“HHHaaaaaaHaaaHaaHaaaaHa!”
Maniacal laughter suddenly came over the room’s PA system. On the stage, was a man wearing a green costume with question mark symbols all over it. He had the microphone in one hand and two machine wielding goons standing menacingly next to him. Based on the reactions of the Con officials and the uniformed hotel staff, I would have to say that this might not be fake, but I wasn’t sure. It seemed mighty strange for a costumed villain to pick a Comic Book Convention to stage his entrance.
“Yes! Ladies and Germs! Those are bombs and if anyone breaks the beams that you see dancing around on the floor leading to your freedom, this entire room will explode. Killing you all! Hahhhahhahah!”
I didn’t think that it was that funny and I lost sight of Aunt Amber and Special Agent Helligan in all the confusion.
“Now that I have your undivided attention! Why should you all be like clocks at midnight?”
“The Riddler?! Are you fucking serious!?!” I said loud enough for him to hear me in the sudden silence that his riddle caused. Sorry, it just slipped out. Besides, this had to be staged. I was at a freaking comic book convention. There was no way that this was real.
He turned and smiled at me. It was not a friendly smile, but after the night that I have been having, I refused to let him get to me. Maybe this was real?
“Oh, and we have a brave one pretending to be Mystique.” He motioned for two of his goons to grab me and force me to join him at the front of the stage.
If he wanted freaking Mystique, then I was going to be freaking Mystique. Before his goons could take more than a few steps in my direction, I contemptuously glared at him and his two goons as I calmly stepped down from my podium box. They paused in their advance and that made me grin with satisfaction as I stalked my way to The Riddler’s side. Up close, I noticed that their machine guns looked very real. I also noticed that with my heels on, I was taller than him.
“So, ‘Mystique’.” He said using air quotes around my name in an attempt to belittle me. “, since you’re such the pretty potty mouth. What is the answer to my little riddle?”
I couldn’t believe that he would ask me to answer such a simple riddle. Where did he get this riddle from? Some Batman fan site? I think that my contempt leaked through my already contemptuous expression.
“Quickly now girl. If they,” He gestured, smiling magnanimously to the anxious crowd. “, don’t hear your answer soon, I will have to start shooting them for your failure. Hahahaha!”
In spite of his bluster, I could tell that my attitude was starting to get to him though. I don’t think that he expected me to react to him like he this. “Pla’ease, ha...ha...because both of their hands need to be pointing up. ha...ha...” I said loud enough for the microphone to pick up my answer using as bored of a tone of voice as I could manage. Then, I pitched my voice lower, so that only he could hear it. “Geez, can you be any lamer as a super villain?”
He. Was. Not. Happy.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. White Queen, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note:I appear to be in the zone for this story, but this chapter is a bit shorter than my previous chapters. Sorry, but it does get us back to the start of the story and I hope that I managed to make it work for you all. A special thanks goes out to Lilith and all of the real CRU authors for providing such an interesting Universe to play in. An additional kudos goes out to EoF for the use of his Green Arrow character and all of his stories. Hope ya all enjoy. Thanks to djkauf for editing. Enjoy!
“Ally! Oh my god! What in the hell were you thinking?” Jen says with her mouth agape. She looks totally shocked by what I did.
Hell, I am shocked too. “Well, I guess that I wasn’t really ‘thinking’, but I couldn’t take it anymore and it just didn’t seem real to me.”
Jen stands and paces back and forth in the middle of the living room floor. “Not real? How in the hell could it not be real? They had freaking machine guns and they just blew out part of the roof?”
Oh yeah, she is pretty upset with me. When we were dating, she only did the pacing thing a few times, with the last time being when she broke up with me. “Well, I dunno. Maybe the fact that in the span of 24 hours, I discovered that I am a girl, and not just any girl. A mutant freak girl and everyone hates me!”
“Everyone? Really?” Jen asks, interrupting the start of my rant with a dose of reality as she stops her pacing to cross her arms and cock her hip with disbelief written all over her expression and posture.
I sigh with frustration. “Well, okay, not everyone, but a lot. I still got chased through the hospital by some religious freak with a huge ass knife. Let’s not forget finding out that my own parents have disowned me and top that off with a big commando style assault on a fracking VA Hospital that got at least a few people killed. Followed by a delightful chase through some underground secret tunnels and I challenge anyone to not feel more than a little, umm, stressed.”
Jen posture switches from outright disbelief to thoughtful. “Hmmm, well, okay. I guess I can kind of see that, but really?! All you had to do was act like a normal and scared human girl. You do know that right?”
I can only nod my head with agreement. She is right. Things would have turned out so different if I had just kept my cool and not been Mystique, because I am not Mystique. That shouldn’t have been that hard, right?
I am a little lost in self-doubt, recriminations and might-have-beens when Jen surprises me when she plops down beside me and gives me a hug. “Okay, please tell me that you dropped the ‘tude after that.” Jen says.
I manage to give her a guilty smile in return. “Weellll, not exactly.” I say as her face clouds up again.
**
For a real Metahuman without any real superpowers to actually save my ass, did I just push him too far? That question flashed through my mind as his expression hardened in anger, but at the same time; I could not seem to find the energy to care as much as I probably should have. The last 24 hours had been completely crazy and I just couldn’t believe that this was happening. I felt numb to the fear that logically, I knew that I should have felt. I should have been hugging the floor and praying for my life like all the other people.
“Okay, ‘Mystique’. Since you’re such the clever one here, how about if you riddle me my next riddle?” He asked with a sneer. “...and, just to make it interesting. How about for every five seconds that it takes you to answer the riddle, I will shoot one person? Sound like a fair deal to you?”
Oh shit!
“What? Has the cat got your tongue now or something? Not so brave now, are you?” The Riddler asked, taunting me.
He had me beat, until he said that last bit. “Oh, please. You’re just a two bit crook with delusions of grandeur pretending to be The Riddler!” I said as I cocked my hips contemptuously in his direction.
He backhanded me in the face for that. That stung a little. Okay, a lot. He split my lip and I could taste blood in my mouth, but I absolutely refused to give him any satisfaction. I would not touch the side of my face or acknowledge the pain in anyway.
“Okay everyone! Hahahaha! As you can see, you sometimes have to whip your subordinates into shape! Hahahaha! What kind of pet always stays on the floor?” He yelled into the microphone to a sea of scared people with their hands still up in the air.
I wasn’t sure if he would really follow through with his threat, but just in case, I had to answer the riddle. Thankfully, he was still using childishly simple riddles. “The carpet!” I yelled.
“Hahaha! Hahaha! You heard my partner in crime! On the floor! Down!” The Riddler yelled as he directed his goons to fire their weapons over the audience’s heads.
It didn’t take everyone long to hug the floor and as soon as his goons stopped firing, he turned and looked at me with a smirk on his face. “Thanks babe, you can be hard to work with at times, but you’ve been a ton of help!” He said just loud enough for everyone to hear via the microphone.
Oh, now he was trying to make it look like I was his partner or something instead of a too smart for their own good victim. “Grrr, you’re just fucking lucky that this isn’t a real gun!” I said while being careful to not actually point my fake gun at him. I wouldn’t want his goons to ‘accidentally’ shoot me.
[Screeech!][Smash!]
One of the closed metal exit doors were suddenly ripped out and away. The Riddler paused, and then started laughing as a police bomb robot started to try and enter the room.
[Zap!]
One of the fake laser turrets on the bomb display turned out to not be so fake. It blasted the robot to smithereens.
“Hehehe! Hahaha!” The Riddler turned to one of his goons. “Detonator please!”
The goon handed the Riddler a small, round, shiny metal tube with a clear plastic cover that protected a red button on the top of it. He flipped the cover off of what had to be a detonator, and then he casually pressed the red button. When he did that, green strobe lights on all of the bombs started to flash.
Fuck!
Just like in the movies, it looked like he activated the bombs with a deadman’s switch. If someone shot him or he let go of the button, all of the bombs would blow up.
“Tsk, Tsk, Tsk! Now, now people. What is a room that no one can enter?” The Riddler asked as he looked around the room.
Crap! How could the police disarm the bombs if they couldn’t even get a robot or person into the room? With the detonator in his hand, how can they stop this asshole without shooting him? How could they rescue all the hostages, not to mention me?
“Hehehe! Hahaha! Come now folks! Surely someone among you can answer my riddle?” The Riddler, hands on his hips as he taunted the mostly terrified crowd. “Mystique? I’m starting to feel bored and my finger might slip on this button. Could you be a dear and help out our friends here?”
Oh god. How I wished that I really had Vylencia’s spells right then. I would have loved to melt his freaking ass. “A fucking mushroom! Just get whatever it is that you’re trying to do here over with and leave, asshole!”
The Riddler turned the mic away right after I answered the question. So, except a couple of people who happened to be unlucky enough to be stuck front and center by the stage; no one else heard me tell him to leave.
“Hahaha! Oh my! That’s right folks! This room is like a mushroom! As in, BOOM! One giant explosion if anyone tries to enter the room or if I let go of this little button here!” He said, making a show of letting everyone see the detonator. “Hahahaha! You all are so lucky that I let my good buddy Mystique join me here tonight. You would all be so dead without her wit! Hahahaha!”
I really wanted to kill him, but why was he here? It didn’t make sense. Holding a Comic Book Convention hostage just wasn’t smart and in spite of his stupid riddles, he didn’t seem all that dumb to me. “Why are you here?” I asked.
He turned back and grinned at me. “Ahh, but that is a good question my love! Hahaha!”
“Grrrr!” I so wished that I was still a dude so that I could just punch him and have him actually feel it.
“People need me but they always give me away. What am I?” The Riddler asked.
I didn’t have to answer him. Money. My eyes widening with surprise was all the answer he needed.
“Hahahaha! Oh yes, I do believe the babe gets it! Hahahaha!”
“You bastard! There’s no money here! It’s just a fucking comic book convention!”
[Screeeech!][Smash!]
My eyes were drawn to the sight of a second set of doors being ripped open by the police. From my vantage point on the stage, I could see lots of police officers in black combat gear spread out and ready to try and rush the room. I prayed that they didn’t because if they did, they would set the bombs off when they hit the beams.
“Hahahaha!” The Riddler laughed at the police response, and then he mimed looking at a watch that didn’t exist on his arm. “Oh drat! It looks like all my guests have finally arrived, but would you look at the time? Well, my love, this is when I must bid you, adieu.” He said as he and his men hit a small button located on their belt buckles.
I watched as a balloon inflated from behind their backs. Then as it filled, it slowly raised above their heads, then quickly shot up into the air and through the open skylight as the balloon stretched tight under full inflation; A small cable trailing behind it.
“Are you freaking kidding me?!?!” I yelled at him just before I saw something large and dark flash over open skylight.
Laughing maniacally, the Riddler and all of his men shot straight up and out of the open skylight. The Riddler let go of the detonator just as he reached the opening and I watched it tumble end over end as it started to fall back down to earth. I managed to catch it before it hit the stage, but the button was no longer being held down and there was nothing that I could do to change that.
I turned and helplessly watched as more sparks and pyrotechnics started to shoot out of the bomb displays. Everyone in the room was screaming in panic and the ones who weren’t; they were praying or just hugging onto their loved ones. Then, it happened. It looked like it was happening in slow motion to me. Hoping to beat the bombs, a few panic stricken attendees started to run, screaming bloody murder for the nearest open doorways.
I just wondered why the bombs had not already blown up. I had the Riddler’s deadman’s switch in my hand. Was there a delay? If there was a delay, then the people that were just about to reach the laser zone were sure to set off the bombs as they tried to run to safety.
“No!” I yelled in an doomed attempt to get them to stop before they killed everyone.
Of course, they didn’t listen. They ran through the doors and the bombs didn’t blow up. That is when I noticed that the police robot that had made it through the doors and promptly got zapped by the laser turret was in the trip zone with all the flashing Riddler and Joker icons. If the robot didn’t trigger the bombs when it broke the beams; maybe the bombs weren’t real?
“Come on! Let’s get out of here before they blow!” Someone yelled after they saw the first few make it out to safety.
Then, the mad rush for the doors started as everyone bolted for the same set of open doors. It was chaos as hundreds of panic stricken people all tried to fit through the same narrow opening. The SWAT teams decided to risk it and sent their people in through the closed doors after a few of the braver folks ran through them without setting off the bombs.
I had the fake detonator in one hand and Mystique’s fake gun in the other. I looked up, through the empty skylight and saw nothing but the open sky above. “You fucking bastard!” I yelled in frustration.
The air was pretty smoky from all the fireworks, but that did not seem to slow the SWAT team as they rushed in to secure the room. I would have just jumped down from the stage, but there was no way that I was going to try that in these heels. Instead, I started walking towards the left side of the stage to exit via the stairway.
Off to my left, I heard someone yell, “FREEZE! Drop the...”
I turned towards the sound of the voice and I just had time to glimpse a black clad police officer in full SWAT gear with a M16 or something pointed at me. I saw it flash once and time seemed to stop, but not enough for me to do anything about it.
[Crack!]
I felt something slam into my right leg.
[Flash!][Crack!]
Then, something punched me in my stomach.
[Flash!][Crack!]
Finally, I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder and I was spun around from the force of the impact. My hand spasmed and I dropped the detonator. I tried to catch it before it hit the ground, but then I had bigger things to worry about when my leg gave out. I tried to put my arms down to stop me from falling on my face as the stage rushed up to meet me and I mostly succeeded in stopping myself, but my left arm did nothing to help me.
Son of a bitch!
The bastard shot me and he didn’t just shoot me once. He shot me three fucking times! Funny, but other than the initial sensation, I didn’t feel any pain. Did he just fire blanks and I imagined bullets hitting me?
Something wasn’t right. I tried to move my left arm and that was when the pain started. It shot through my body and I screamed from the pain. Something inside of me clicked and I felt my essence surge through my body and it felt good. Real good! Now, if I really was Vylencia and I could use magic. I would have activated all my buffs. Then, to heal my wounds, I would drain the bastard that shot me.
With that thought, I felt my essence flare as I activated Vylencia’s Unholy Armor buff. A dark purple, fiery glow shot out a few inches from my skin, before it rapidly faded away. That was what I saw, but in DBO, Vylencia’s eyes would flash and flame out for a second too; It made for a really nice and scary evil effect. I wondered if that is what the cops who shot me saw and I hoped that it made them reconsider their decision to shoot me.
I had no idea if magical armor would help, but it was habit to cast that spell first when I was getting ready to play Vylencia. In DBO, the buff was advertised to increase my armor level and thus reduce the amount of damage I took, but I never really noticed a difference. Vylencia wore cloth armor and it wasn’t Kevlar either. Besides, compared to Jax with his plate armor, it didn’t take much to hurt Vylencia, but oh well, the activation effect looked cool.
The pain from my gunshot wounds faded into the background. Instead of the pain stopping me, it helped me focus on what I needed to do next. I needed Vylencia’s shield spell to stop any more bullets from hitting me and with that thought; a lightly glowing translucent bubble popped into existence all around me with a slight thrumming sound. Bullets weren’t spells, arrows or swords and I hoped that my shield bubble spell would stop a bullet. If not, I was really going to feel pretty stupid here in a second or two.
I pulled myself to my feet. My right leg tried to give out on me, but I managed to catch myself by temporarily using the stubby barrel of my fake gun like a cane. The cop who shot me looked a little surprised to see me standing. “Drop it! Down, down, down! On the floor now!” He yelled at me while aiming his machine gun at me again.
I just got up! There was no way that I was going to lie back down on the floor again. Tears of pain and frustration streamed from my eyes and I am sure that I looked more than a little pissed as blood ran down my right leg and left arm. I tried to shift my weight, but that just sent bolts of pain shooting up and down my leg. My stomach felt like I had a brick in it and my left shoulder hung limply at my side. I needed some health and I knew just how to go about getting it.
I looked at him closer and I saw life. Life that I could use to heal me. He didn’t like the fact that I ignored his order. I watched the end of his rifle rapidly flash as his bullets slammed into my shield. That caused my bubble to flash like a strobe light with each hit, but none of his bullets made it through my shield. They all just stopped, flattened out and fell harmlessly to the floor in front of me.
I smiled with satisfaction as I shifted my weight to my left leg as I lifted my right arm, fake gun pointed at him. His eyes widened with shock as I channeled my Vampiric Heal through my right arm. A sickly, glowing green beam shot out from my arm and hit him square in his chest. His surprised and determined expression shifted to one of horror and pain as he fell to his knees, screaming from the pain. He fired his rifle uncontrollably in my general direction, but none of his bullets hit my shield this time.
I felt powerful as his stolen health flowed into my body. I was able to use both legs to stand as the pain in my stomach and shoulder began to fade. Oh god! It felt so good. It was like eating chocolate while downing a shot of tequila during sex. I don’t know if that was actually possible, but I just felt so damn good. I wanted more! I needed more!
It was a shame that he was such a low-level human. He was almost dead and I needed to find someone else to drain. I canceled my spell just as he fell face first onto the stage floor. That seemed to break the rest of the cops from their momentary indecision because my shield started to flash like crazy as more bullets slammed into it in a futile attempt to avenge their fallen comrade.
I laughed and I am sure that I sounded a little crazy, but finally, something was going right for me. I wasn’t helpless! I could do something to stop the people from hurting me. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop myself. I laughed as I pointed my now functional left arm and hand at my next meal. My leg and shoulder felt good, but my stomach still felt a little tight. Once again, I willed my vampiric heal to activate and hit the next closest cop.
My sickly, green glowing beam shot out from my hand and unerringly lanced into the officer’s chest. Screaming in pain, he fell to his knees, grasping at his chest in a futile attempt to dislodge my beam while I only felt pleasure as his life flowed into me, filling me as the rest of my wounds healed over and except for the blood already lost; my wounds healed without a trace.
I was totally full of health, but I didn’t want to stop. It felt so good! I felt so powerful and unstoppable behind my shield.
[Wham!]
A loud explosion and a brilliant flash of light slammed into my shield. The shock surprised me and made me take an involuntary step backwards. My health drain on the second officer stopped and I felt the pang of loss. I craved more!
I looked down and saw the first cop that I drained. He was just lying on the stage, pale as a ghost with some blood pooling under his leg. I noted the occasional flash as another bullet hit my shield. The flashing was a little distracting. I looked past him and I saw the second officer that I had drained holding his stomach and moaning in pain as another officer knelt next to him and tried to administer first aid.
All of those observations happened in an instant and the realization that I did that and even worse, that I liked it; No, not just like it. I loved it! That realization shocked me to the core.
[WHAM!]
My entire shield flashed and faded away. I was momentarily blinded. My shield just took a direct hit and the very loud explosion caused me to stagger a few steps back as the shock wave buffeted me. I did not know what it was that just hit me and as I looked around, searching for the cause; I failed to spot anyone with what had to have been a bazooka. Fortunately, all of the officers that were shooting had stopped due the explosion. They appeared to be just as surprised as I was.
They were looking around trying to spot the same thing that I was trying to find. Who or what had just shot a freaking bomb at me? It seemed to come from higher up. Maybe it came from the ceiling?
As the spots cleared from my vision, I looked up and I spotted a black and green shape moving up in the center’s catwalks. Just in case, I refreshed my shield and I wasn’t a moment too soon because a fresh round of bullets slammed into it with renewed force as the officers resumed their assault on me. Through all the flashes of my shield, I watched as the black and green shape stood up. The shape was about a hundred yards away and maybe 30 feet up.
She? Well, the shaped looked feminine to me and I thought that I saw a flash of blonde hair, but what really captured my full attention was the bow that she held in her hands. While she was pretty far away from me and it was hard to make out some details, but I was definitely able to see that: (A) She had a bow and (B) there was a big fat arrow nocked and ready to fly. Whatever it was, it was definitely not a regular arrow.
Oh shit!
She had to be that Green Arrow chick that I had heard about in the news. I needed to get the hell out of there before she had a chance to fire another one of her bomb arrows at me! I didn’t see any damage to the stage where the first bomb hit, so maybe they weren’t really bombs, but they were loud enough.
I dropped my Globe of Darkness on the floor directly in front of me and prayed that it worked like it did in the game. In the game, a dome of pitch black darkness would surround the caster, or a location chosen by the caster, in a twenty foot dome of an impenetrable gloom that only the caster could see out of or through. I think that it worked, because it suddenly looked like I was in the shade and the officers stopped shooting and even cautiously retreated a few feet backward.
Maybe they were worried that the darkness was going to eat them or something? I needed to get out of there, and fast! In a near panic, I searched for an exit and I spotted a convenient trap door with a metal pull ring set into the stage floor. It was only a few feet away from me and I was surprised that I had not noticed it earlier.
Desperate to escape before the cops started shooting again or the Green Arrow fired another bomb at me, I ran over to the trap door and pulled on the ring. The door easily lifted for me, revealing the smooth concrete floor only five feet below me. I dropped down and I almost twisted my ankle from the fall. Fortunately I didn’t, so I turned around and pulled on the rope that was attached to the underside of the door to allow people to close it from below without having to reach up.
I managed to stop the door from slamming shut and giving away my escape, but I was also very thankful that the stage wasn’t any higher. I might have broken my ankle. Damn heels!
Hunched over due to the stage’s low ceiling, I could hear the officers yelling at each other as I ran toward the rear of the stage area. Underneath, the stage was a forest of aluminum struts and supports that held up the plywood floor. While sturdy, it looked like the stage was just a temporary construction. In addition to that, the front walls of the stage were also constructed with sheets of plywood and it probably wouldn’t take the officers long to pry a few sheets down and enter my current hiding place from the front.
Against the back wall, I spotted a stairway leading down. My sense of direction kicked in and told me that the stairs led to some deeper tunnels and maybe a way out. So, I made for the stairs and then down them as fast as I could without breaking my neck. Have I mentioned that I hated the heels enough, yet? I dropped another Globe of Darkness at the top of the stairs. Casting it a second time should have cancelled out the first Darkness up top, but I figured that my second one would slow anyone from trying to follow me. I hoped so anyway.
I had no idea how I was going to get out of here now. While I could try losing myself in the maze of hallways underneath the convention area, I was pretty sure that they would eventually find and trap me. These tunnels were a lot better lit and more traveled than the abandoned tunnels I escaped from earlier. Plus, even if I ditched the costume, there is no way that I would be able to blend in with the crowd.
There was only one thing left to try. Now that I had successfully cast some of Vylencia’s spells, I decided to try casting her gate spell. If it worked like it did in the game, I should be instantly teleported to my last anchor point. I just hoped that my last anchor point was somehow set at my home in Virginia. It would really suck if I ended up back at the hospital or even worse, standing in the hallway with nowhere to go but to jail. That’s if the cops didn’t just shoot me first. I had just hurt and maybe even killed one of their own. Cops don’t really like people who do that.
I activated my Gate spell and a small distortion appeared in the air directly in front of me. Over the span of 10 seconds, the distortion rapidly expanded to form a semi-transparent glowing circle in the middle of the hallway that looked to be about six feet in diameter. Other than the glowing circle floating in mid-air, there was nothing that looked like a teleportation gate to me. There were no cool liquid wormhole effects like on that Stargate TV show. Just a boring ring that I could see right through and down the hallway. So, I really hoped that I didn’t just conjure up some useless ring of light.
“Well, here goes nothing!” I said as I stepped through the ring.
The hall that I was standing in suddenly warped and it appeared to twist around me for a second. Then, it felt like I was being stretched like a rubber band before I snapped back into place an instant later and all the freaky special effects stopped.
I half expected to find myself still in the basement hallway of the convention center, but as I looked around the room that I found myself standing in; I recognized it as the living room of my apartment back in Virginia.
“Oh thank god!” I said.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. White Queen, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note:This one came out faster than I expected and a LOT more words than I expected. I really wish that I could write fewer words yet tell more story like EOF, MF, Morpheus, etc... I added a caution because there is some implied sex. Well, I hope it is just implied. I toned it down from what I originally wrote. Anyway, I hope ya all enjoy. Thanks to djkauf for editing.
“So, that’s pretty much where you came in.” I say as I watch Jen struggle to put together a suitable reply.
It takes her few seconds and a sip from her wine glass before she is able to put together something. “Well, umm, that is certainly going to make things hard for you.”
Sadly, I can only nod my head in agreement.
“I mean, I guess I can sort of see how the cops would react the way that they did, but did you really have to attack them back?” Jen asks.
“I know! But, what do I do now?” I ask as the full gravity of the situation takes hold of me. While I was telling Jen the story, I was sort of able to distance myself from what it really meant for me, but now, I can’t help it, I start crying again.
I am pissed at the bastard who tried to stab me in the hospital. I am pissed at the bastards who tried to kidnap me and killed the DMA agents plus who knows how many other innocent doctors and nurses. I am extra pissed by the fact that they decided to chase me through the tunnels and try to shoot Ed, Tom, Kristin and me as we escaped by the skin of our teeth. I think that it goes without saying that The Riddler dude has earned a spot on my shit list too.
For the SWAT team, I am merely upset that they decided to shoot me and shoot at me because I can kind of see why they shot at me. Most of all though, I am super pissed at myself because I royally screwed up when I drained those two cops. I am so screwed that it isn’t even funny.
It takes me a few minutes of crying and cycling between feeling sorry for myself, pissed at myself and sometimes both at the same time before I realize that Jen has me in her arms. She is hugging me, while rocking my body back and forth as she says calming, reassuring words to me. It think that she has been trying to comfort me for more than a few minutes, but I sort of lost track of time and I have no idea what she has been saying to me. Just knowing that she has been trying to make me feel better, helps and tears begin to slow as I start paying closer attention to what she is saying to me.
“Shhh, it’s going to be okay Ally. I’m here...” Jen says, and then repeats it a few more times before I manage to get my tears fully under control.
Once again, I need some tissues for my nose and eyes. I return her hug as my body shudders one last time from all the emotion and my tears fully stop. “Thanks Jen. I’m sorry...” I whisper to her, shamed by my outburst. I am not some 16 year old girl. I’m 27 years old and I shouldn’t be acting like such a baby. Except that now my nose is running, again. I sigh with frustration.
“I need to get some tissue.” I softly say as I pull away from her and sniff my nose in an attempt to prevent even more embarrassment. Her eyes are looking a little puffy too.
“Okay...” Jen says as she intently searches my eyes to see how I am feeling, before she lets go of my hand.
I make a beeline for the bathroom and after I take care of myself, I pull off a wad of tissue for Jen and return to the living room. After she gratefully accepts the tissues, I return to my spot on the couch. I don’t know what to do now. So, I pull my knees up to my chest with my arms locked around my calves to help hold them in position as I rest my forehead on my knees and just think about what to do next. I realize that my posture is a very girlish posture to take, but it helps me feel better; more in control somehow. I am also pleased that I can even sit like this and that it is comfortable for me to do so. I am way more flexible than before my accident.
Every now and then, I look up and find that Jen hasn’t budged. She’s thinking furiously about how she can help me, but I don’t see any way out. I am going to go to jail as a cop killer and there is nothing that either one of us can do about it. Her story, if she publishes it, might help, but probably not. Plus, even if it did help, I still look like an evil dark elf version of the Mystique villain from the comic books. No one is going to let me forget that little detail.
“Maybe I should just call the cops and turn myself in?” I half-heartedly ask since I am not sure if that would help. When Jen fails to reply, I sigh and I put my head back down on my knees.
“What if you didn’t look like Mystique?” Jen softly asks.
I look up and from her expression; I can tell that she has an idea. “What do you mean? How can I not look like Mystique?”
“DBO.” She notices my blank expression and points to my body. “Look! You are now Vylencia, your DBO Priest in Death Aspect. What about Vylencia in Life Aspect? Have you tried changing yourself?”
“Umm, no? I mean, yes, I tried back at the hospital, but nothing happened.” I say.
“And?” Jen asks as she just looks at me like I said something stupid.
I realize that she is right to think that way. I blush as I realize that a few things have changed since the last time I tried to change to Life Aspect.
“Okay.” I say as I stand back up and move to the center of my living room to give myself some room. “I’m going to try switching to Vylencia’s, I mean, my Life Aspect mode.”
Jen looks excited by my decision. She is sitting on the edge of the couch with rapt attention, but I am not sure how to change myself. Changing my aspect isn’t a spell that I cast. It is an ability, and on my PC, I just clicked a button to activate the ability. How in the hell do I do that now? Maybe the same way I cast my spells earlier? I focus my will on changing to Life Aspect.
At first, I don’t feel anything, but with that realization; I concentrate more on my body instead of my Essence and the spells that I can cast. I feel something click. I start to feel a little dizzy. I sort of feel like I might pass out, but just before that happens, everything snaps back into focus. It suddenly feels very breezy in my apartment. I look over at Jenny and she is just sitting there looking at me as if she is seeing a ghost.
I look down at myself. “Oh shit!” I say with a stunned whisper.
Gone is my blue skin. Now, my skin is milky white while my breasts look a little smaller and I feel disturbed when I notice that I feel disappointed by that realization. My hair feels like it is a little longer, but it isn’t hanging loosely. I think it’s being held back with a pony tail or maybe even a braid. Vylencia’s hair in the game was styled in an elaborate French braid that I now realize would be impossible for me to recreate for myself. I also feel taller, and I think that my voice sounds different too. The room is a bit darker, but it is still plenty bright enough for me. High Elves don’t have the full Dark Vision like Dark Elves, but they do have a Low Light type of night vision. Oh yeah, I’m also totally naked.
“Where did my clothes go?” I ask.
Yep. My voice is definitely different now. It sounds like I am now an octave or two higher. I had an almost husky yet still a very sexy sounding contralto, but now I sound like I might be in the mezzo-soprano range.
Jen snaps out of her shock. “I don’t know. They all disappeared with your other body.”
“Oh. Well, that’s inconvenient, but at the same time, it could come in handy too.” I say with a mixture of frustration and consideration while refusing to be embarrassed about being bare-assed in front of her, again.
“Umm, why don’t you grab one of your old t-shirts from your room to umm, help cover yourself up?” Jen asks looking a touch flustered by my appearance.
“Maybe you could use your old baseball jersey?” She adds, as a suggestion.
I do remember that she wore it a lot and it looked really sexy on her. I would probably look stunning wearing it and with that somewhat disturbing realization, I force myself to walk calmly into my room so that I can find my jersey. I hold it up against my body and the longer torso length looks like it will allow the shirt to fall all the way to mid-thigh on me, but I can’t help thinking about how the last girl, Jen, looked while wearing this shirt. She looked like a really hot girl wearing her boyfriend’s too large shirt after spending the night, if you know what I mean.
The idea that I will now look like that is a bit disturbing to me, but I don’t really have any other choices since all my guy clothes are way too big for me now. I sigh with frustration and slip the shirt over my head. My braid catches a bit and I have to pull it out and flip it over the collar in the back. I look over at myself in my dresser mirror.
“Holy shit!” I say, gasping with surprise at the sight of my newer new self.
I’m a babe and I am ashamed to admit it, but I think that I look way hotter than Jen did in it. My old jersey hangs down to mid-thigh. I am no expert, but I think that I could wear it as a dress. If I added a belt to give it some structure and if no one got too close, someone might think I’m just another girl wearing a very short mini-dress. Structure? Where did that fashion concept come from?
I mentally shrug my shoulders, not important right now, but on the plus side, I think that I’m back up to being 5’ 11” again. If not, I’m very close. My eyes are a deep green and my hair is a very rich honey blonde color and I discover that I am correct about having a braid. The braid looks very tight, structured and complicated. I decide to leave it alone. There is no way that I’m going to be able to duplicate that hair control feat anytime soon.
I think that if it wasn’t for my pointy elf ears, I could easily pass as a normal super-model. If normal and super-model could actually go together. I will still get some attention, but not nearly as much as I would if I walked down the street looking like Mystique.
Holy crap!
I really am a “shape shifter”. Just not a real shape shifter. Hmmm. This could make hiding out a little easier. Well, less hard than it would be as a Dark Elf, anyway. I am still checking myself out in the mirror when Jen walks back in and turns the room light on. Ouch. I blink my eyes a few times as they adjust to the light.
She drops her gym bag on my bed. “Nice look, I think that it looks better on you than it did on me.” Jen says with a grin as she roots through her bag and pulls out her sports bra.
I am glad that she said it and not me.
“This might actually fit you better now. Out there, you looked like you might be a B cup now.” Jen says with a hint of a smile.
Is she happy that I am the same size as her now? Was she jealous of my Dark Elf boobs? I frown a little at that possibility and I am not sure how to put it on. I know how to wear a regular bra now, but this looks more like a super tight t-shirt than a bra.
Jen notices my apparent confusion. “Just take your t-shirt off and put that on like it was a t-shirt.”
“Okay.” I follow her instructions and the sports bra fits pretty well. It’s a bit snugger that a normal bra, but it also doesn’t dig into my shoulders as much. “I think I like these better.”
“Oh, yeah. They are nice to exercise in, but you wouldn’t wanna wear them all the time. They can smush your boobs at bit much and there aren’t too many outfits that a sports bra can be worn with.”
“Oh.” I say. The smooshed breasts thing does not sound comfortable.
“Well, I don’t have anything else in here for you since all the stuff was with your Mystique body.”
“I’m not Mystique...” I say, protesting her calling my other body that name.
She ignores my protest. “Hmmm, I think that we should head over to my apartment now that you won’t attract so much attention.”
We’ve both been drinking wine. The bottle is mostly empty now. I’m not sure that it would be smart for either of us to drive right now. I glance over at Jenny and notice that I can sense a poison and a disease status for her, but for myself, nothing. Even though I drank over three glasses to her one and a half; I am poison free. I guess that my metabolism is more efficient now or something.
Okay. The poison I can understand. She’s been drinking wine. Alcohol is sort of a poison. I’m more worried about her disease status. I concentrate on that and I suddenly know that she is suffering from her normal spring allergies and that she has Breast Cancer. Very early stages and it barely registers, but it is there. Oh crap.
Jen noticed my expression change as I study her. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You are suffering from your allergies right now, right?”
“Yeah. This season has been pretty bad, but the new meds work pretty well. Why?”
I really don’t know how she is going to take this. “Ummm, I think that you have Breast Cancer.”
“What!?!? That shit’s not funny, John!” She says as she reflexively starts to reach for her breasts. Then, she realizes that she was going to and storms out of my room and back into the living room.
Yeah. She called me ‘John’ again. She’s pissed.
I follow her. “Jenny, wait. I’m not joking. I can somehow sense diseases and poisons now. I think that it might be because when I am in Life Aspect, I can heal those things. I couldn’t sense that before I switched.”
She has her arms wrapped tight around her chest. She softens a little, but she still looks pissed and now a little more worried. “I do not have Breast Cancer!”
“Okay, when was the last time you had a, umm, breast exam?” I ask, feeling a little embarrassed to be asking about such a feminine condition, but I guess that I shouldn’t feel that way anymore.
She begins to look a little more uncertain. “Last year...”
I concentrate on my spells and discover that I can’t sense any of my Death Aspect spells, but I can sense all of my Life Aspect spells now. “Okay. Lemme try something?”
She looks at me suspiciously. “Umm, what?”
“Since we have been drinking, how about if I try my Purify spell on you? If that works and gets rid of the alcohol in your system, then maybe the disease cure part of the spell will work too?”
“Hmmm. Okay. What do I have to do?”
“Nothing?” I say, hesitantly. “I don’t know, just stand still and don’t run around the room screaming ‘heal me!’ like a pansy tank while I try casting it on ya, okay?”
The DBO reference makes her giggle. “Umm, wait. I need to go to the bathroom and check something first.” She gets up, runs into the bathroom and closes the door behind herself.
I’m guessing that she wants to see if she can feel any lumps. I follow her. After a few minutes, I hear her start to cry. “Jen?”
No answer.
“Jen? Are you okay?”
Still no answer, but I can definitely hear her crying now. I open the door and find her sitting on the toilet seat with her legs pulled up into her chest as she cries into her legs.
I hesitantly move towards her. “Jen?”
She looks up at me with tear stained eyes. “I felt a lump. I think...”
I can’t stand seeing her looking so miserable. I start to cry too. I reach out and wrap my arms around her, hugging her tightly to my chest. I ignore the strange sensation of my breasts getting smushed as I just hold her. She starts to sob in my arms. “Shhh. It’s going to be okay Jen. Maybe I can cure you and if I can’t, maybe we caught it early enough?”
Jen starts to calm down. She leans back and looks into my face. “You’re crying too?”
That forces a broken laugh from me. “Umm, yeah. Sorry. I just saw you there and it broke my heart.” Now I have the sniffles too. “Can you pass me some tissues?”
She smiles as she grabs me a tissue and one for herself too. “That’s okay. It’s just that, until tonight, I’ve just never seen you cry before. I know that we have both been burning up the tissues together, but I just never thought about it until now.”
“I think it comes with the new plumbing or something. I’ve cried a lot since I woke up and found out that I was a girl.”
She giggles and her face brightens up. “Well, thanks for being here for me girlfriend.”
That makes me feel weird and I have no idea how to respond. “Well, yeah. Umm, what else are, umm, girlfriends for?”
Jen grins at my confusion and lets out a huge sigh. “Okay. Go. Cast your spell.” She says with a slight cringe in the anticipation of pain as she closes her eyes.
I feel the energy build up again and then, release as I cast my spell on her. Her body glows for a second and she giggles.
“What?” I ask, concerned that something went wrong.
“That tickled.” She pauses for a second and pouts.
“What? Is everything okay?” I ask, worried that something went wrong.
“Damn. I had a nice little buzz going on there. Now it’s gone.”
I’m relieved. It worked. I can’t believe that it worked. This is incredible! Think of all the people I could help! “Okay. That worked. What about the Breast Cancer?” I ask as I study her again with my new found senses.
She starts to reach for her breasts again, but stops with me in there.
“Umm, well, I think it’s gone. Your hay fever, too.” I say, smiling happily for her and at her reaction to me.
She gives me a confused look, but performs a few large test inhales and when no coughing or sneezing happens she looks at me with wonder and excitement. She is so excited that she totally forgets that I am standing right beside her and she examines her breasts.
“Hey Jen?” I ask to get her attention.
She distractedly looks up at me as she’s feeling her breasts. “Yeah?”
“Are you finding anything?”
“No. I can’t find the lump that I felt earlier.”
“That’s good.” I can’t help it. I leer at her and raise my hands to reach for her boobs. “Here, lemme help and make sure.”
Until she notices my expression, she almost lets me. “John! I mean Ally! You perv!”
“Hey, I am sort of a doctor. My interest is purely clinical.” I laugh, until I realize something about myself. It is purely clinical. I didn’t feel anything at the sight of her touching her boobs. As strange as it sounds, I can sorta understand why I might not get all hot and bothered about the sight of my own boobs, but I used to love seeing and touching her boobs. Maybe now that I have my own set, they aren’t so forbidden and amazing anymore? My eyes instantly begin to tear up.
Jen notices my abrupt change in expression. She reaches for my arm. “Ally? What’s wrong?”
“I think that I’m gay now.” I begin to cry.
Now it’s her turn to hug me again. “Oh, Ally. It’s okay.”
I interrupt her. “No! It’s not okay. Nothing is okay anymore! I don’t even know myself anymore. Even my name isn’t my name anymore. I love you, but when I look at you; I don’t feel anything. Not like I used too. I still think that you’re beautiful, but nothing happens!” I gesture down to my crotch area. “I can’t like guys! I just can’t!”
I break down in her arms and my legs give out on me, causing us both to sink to the floor. She doesn’t say anything. She just continues to gently hug me as I cry into her naked shoulder.
What can she say? I know that she likes guys and that’s normal, but she has been a girl her entire life. How can I possibly like guys now? Maybe I don’t. Maybe I’m just feeling stressed and that’s blocking my mojo or something? I start to feel better. Maybe I can fool myself enough to really believe that? Is she bi? I don’t think so, but I could be wrong.
“Jen?” I ask, softly.
“Yes, Ally?” She asks, patiently.
“What if...”
She stops me. “Shhh. If it happens, it happens. I’ll still be your friend. No, your best friend. The kind of friend that will help you hide a body. As amazing as it is, you are a girl now. I wouldn’t worry about who you might like or not like right now. You’ve still got time to figure all that stuff out.”
Okay, It sounds like she thinks of me in a ‘girl who is a friend’ way versus a ‘girlfriend/boyfriend’ kind of way. So, I think I can answer the bi question now. “A body huh?” I ask with the beginnings of an amused smirk.
Jen smiles and looks down. “Well...maybe. Guess it depends on if they deserved it or not.”
We both break down and laugh on each other’s shoulders as we hug each other tighter before we untangle ourselves and stand back up.
“So? Lump gone?” I ask.
She smiles and nods her head. “Yep and I think my Hay Fever too. That’s some pretty potent magic ya got there!”
“Yeah, I’m glad I was able to cure you.” I say as we walk back into the living room holding hands before we break apart to sit back down on the couch.
She looks at me before glancing out the window. I turn my head and notice that it’s starting to get lighter outside. Morning is coming. She looks back to me and bites her lip. She has that look again. She is thinking about something serious and I don’t want to interrupt her. She looks back outside for a second before she nods her head in agreement with whatever it is that she thought about.
“Okay, we need to leave, now.” She says.
“What?”
“We need to leave your apartment right now, before it’s too late.”
I think that she is worried about the cops. “Jen. It’s five AM and everyone probably thinks that I’m still in California.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but this will be the first place that they come to look for you. They might not think to check with the ex-girlfriend. Not right away anyway.”
“Hmmm, okay. You’re probably right, but what if someone sees me with you?”
“What about it? You’re not a Dark Elf.”
“Yeah, but what about my ears?”
“Oh, here.” She reaches over. “Lemme undo your braid.” She untangles the thing and it feels good to have her messing with my hair. My head feels lighter as the braid comes undone, but now my hair is all over. My hair really is longer in this form. She grabs her brush and tells me to bend over. She flips my hair over and brushes it all forward before she has me toss my head back as fast as I can. I feel my hair swing back, fall over my shoulders and around my face.
She hands me her mirror. “Looks good. Here, look.”
I check myself out and my long blond hair is now covering my ears completely and it looks good. I think that I can totally pass as a normal girl now. Without my hair in the braid, my hair falls to just above my butt. It’s about six inches longer than my Dark Elf hair. Hmmm, that’s going to take some getting used to and I doubt that I will be able to get it cut now. It might be hard to hide my ears without it.
She takes some hairspray out of her purse and sprays some in my hair. “There and now we are good. Change back to Mystique.”
“What?!?” I ask, shocked that she wants me to change now.
Jen sighs with exasperation. “Just change back to Mystique for a bit.”
“I’m not Mystique and why?”
“The clothes and your costume.”
“My costume? What about my costume?”
“You can change back to Mystique...”
“I’m not Mystique!” I say with a bit more force as I cross my arms with frustration.
“Whatever...change back, take off my sweat pants and top, then put on the Mystique dress, grab your fake gun, put your boots and gloves back on. Then, change back.”
“Why?”
“You need something to wear other than your ‘we just had sex’ jersey and we need to take your Mystique stuff with us. Do you want the cops to find that stuff here when they search your apartment?”
“Oh, yeah.” How did she get so damn sneaky? “Do you hide people from the law on a regular basis or something?”
“No, but I do watch CSI.”
I hope that she realizes that the tech on that show isn’t real. Well, most of it anyway. “Oh. Okay. Anything else?”
“Yeah. I’m going to grab the wine bottle, glasses, that bloody washcloth and the trash before we leave. Also, we should wipe down anything we touched to remove the fingerprints, but is there anything else that might let someone know you were here?”
I think about it for a second. “Other than the dirty pan and dish, I can’t think of anything else, but lemme check my carpet. I might have dripped some blood on it.” As she runs into the kitchen, I get up and carefully begin my search of the carpet. I don’t spot any drops. I guess I got lucky.
She returns to the living room carrying my fake gun, my gloves and a garbage bag that chinks and rattles a little from the wine glasses hitting the metal pan inside of it. “Anything on the carpet?”
“Nope. Couldn’t find anything.”
“Okay. Switch to Mystique.” She smirks at me.
“I’m not Mystique!” I mutter under my breath as I initiate the switch. It’s much easier the second time. I stumble a bit, but quickly regain my bearings.
“Okay. Lemme get out of this stuff. Can you grab my dress?” I ask while feeling a little weird about asking her to get me my dress.
I am just getting the thong panties off when she walks back into the living room with my dress and bikini fresh from the dryer.
“I still hate you.” Jen says as she hands me the warm clothing.
I slide the bikini on first and it feels strange for the initial second or two when compared to the thong I was wearing and compared to the commando feeling from while I was in High Elf form. Jen has to help me zip the dress back up. That zipper is such a pain. I also put back on the skull belt and all the other matching jewelry. Changing back into the heels sucks. I’m glad that I won’t actually have to walk in them.
Jen holds my gloves out. “Okay, come grab your gloves and the gun. Then, change back again.”
I look up at her. I can’t believe that she’s going to make me walk over to her. “Can’t you just bring them here?”
She smiles at me. “Nah. I wanna see you walk one more time in those heels.”
“Bitch.” I say under my breath as I get up and walk over to her.
Her grin just gets bigger as she watches me.
I grab the gloves, put them on and follow that up by grabbing the gun. She hands me the trash bag too. Confused, I look at her.
“Maybe we can hide the evidence?”
“Okay, here goes nothing.” I say as I activate the switch again. Once again, I stumble as the change happens. The gun and costume is gone, but I’m still holding the trash bag of evidence.
She just frowns. “How does ‘it’ know what to take?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Beats me. I’m just amazed that it worked at all.” I miss my Dark Elf voice. I think that I sound just a touch royal and stuck up, but maybe that is just me because of how regal and aloof she looked when I created her.
“Okay. Put the panties and sweat pants back on, with the top. I also want to see if you can squeeze into my tennis shoes for just long enough to get to the car, and then let’s get out of here. We will find some random trash can on the way to my apartment to dump the bag in.” She says as I force my feet into her one size too small for me tennis shoes.
“Ouch, these are worse than the heels.” I say as I try to walk normally and follow her out of my apartment. I stop at the door and take one last look at my apartment and all my belongings. I feel my eyes begin to tear up.
Jen stops and puts her hand on my shoulder. “I know, but it’s just stuff. Right?”
I grab her hand and hold it. “Yeah. Just stuff.” I say as I gently close the door using the bag instead of touching it directly and hear it lock behind me. Jen gently guides me down the hall and to her car. The parking lot is completely dead. Not a soul is up and moving around at this hour. Well, there are a few other apartment lights on in the other units, but no one is getting into their cars right now. The street facing the lot is pretty much dead too. Only two cars go by as we casually walk to her car and get in.
I place the mostly empty trash bag on the floorboard between my legs as I sit down in the passenger seat with a heavy sigh. It’s pretty sad really. The only thing that I have left of my life is a trash bag that we have to throw away. I want to cry again, but I can’t because if anyone is watching us; they will for sure remember seeing a crying chick driving away at five in the morning.
Jen seems to sense my mood and she doesn’t say anything as we drive out of my apartment’s parking lot. Once we are on the street and driving away, she reaches over and gently holds my hand.
I look at her and tears start to slowly roll down my face as she studies the road. I would be so lost without her. What is it about all the women in my life since I changed? Why have they been so helpful? Complete strangers have gone out of their way to help me and I find myself lacking because I am not so sure that I would have done the same for them if the roles had been reversed.
I mean, if Jen showed up at my apartment as a dude and on the run from the law, I would have turned her ass in right away. That is, if I even believed the dude’s crazy story. That kind of crazy shit just doesn’t happen in real life.
“Thanks Jen. I....” I manage to choke out before my throat closes down on me as I am overwhelmed by my appreciation of just how good of a person that Jen is compared to me.
Jen just squeezes my hand and thankfully for our safety, concentrates on her driving. “Oh! There! A trash dumpster behind that store!” She fiercely whispers to me.
I am not sure why she didn’t just scream it out. It is not like anyone would hear her. She circles back around and after we fail to spot any cameras or witnesses, I jump out and toss the bag into the dumpster. Jen casually drives off and once we reach the safety of the main road, we both start laughing due to the pent up anxiety.
Well, that is until a pair of police cars scream past us heading in the direction that we just came from with their lights and sirens ablaze. We are a few miles away from my apartment and they could be responding to something else, but they serve as a reminder of my situation.
We both are silent for the next few miles. “Is this really going to work Jen?” I ask.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but at least now we have options.” Jen says with a quick glance my way.
I want to ask her, “What options?” and why “We?”, but traffic is starting to get a bit thicker and I don’t want to distract her. She looks pretty tired now that she is coming down from the excitement and I don’t want to think about it right now either. Ahead of us, the sun is starting to rise and the world is taking on a fresh glow. People, animals and even the trees are starting to stir and I can somehow sense that life, that vitality. It makes me feel a little hopeful that maybe we can figure out a solution to my current ‘little’ problem.
Jen is really fighting the z-monsters when we pull into her apartment’s parking lot and she sighs with relief when she turns off her car’s ignition.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She turns and smiles wanly at me. “Yeah, just super tired all of a sudden. It is like I just hit a wall, but, honestly, I am surprised that I didn’t hit it sooner.”
I debate telling her that I could try my Refresh spell, but I am feeling a little tired myself now and I think that we could both use a good nap. A peaceful and uninterrupted nap for me, please. “Well, I am feeling a little tired myself. How about if we go inside and take a short nap or something?” I say as I shake her shoulder to help keep her awake. I might have to try that spell on her anyway; if only to avoid having to carry her.
“I’m coming, I’m coming...” Jen protests as she yawns and struggles to push her door open.
I exit the car and walk over to her side to help her out. It is almost like old times for us with me helping her out of the car, but that is just another reminder of how it isn’t the same, at all. None the less, she gratefully accepts my hand and we walk, arm in arm together into her apartment complex; looking for all intents and purposes, like two girlfriends returning home from the gym.
Well, I look like it with her exercise clothes on and the one or two people who are up and about early enough to spot us barely even look at Jen. One, they were both guys and two; I am wearing much tighter clothing than Jen is. Yeah, that is why they mentally rip my clothes off with their eyes while totally ignoring Jen. Why are all men, except for me, when I was a guy, pervs?
“Make yourself comfortable. I know that the couch sucks for sleeping on. So, you’re welcome to crash on my bed with me if you feel like it. If not, you know where the couch is.” Jen says as she strips off her clothes on item at a time until she is down to just her panties, leaving a trail of cast off clothes all the way to her bedroom.
By the way, they are blue and I think that they look very pretty on her. I feel something inside of me tingle and briefly wonder if I am finding her sexually attractive. I can’t help it. I sigh with both confusion and appreciation as she obviously stumbles into her bedroom and flops down on her bed. I follow her and sit down beside her. I intend to talk to her for a few minutes before she falls asleep, but she is out. I pull up her blanket and snuggle her in. She rouses just enough to smile a little at me. I want to kiss her on her lips, but instead, I give her a fond kiss on her forehead and make my way out of her room.
Now, I am really confused about my sexuality. Did I just find her more than just pretty? Did I just feel attracted to her like I did when I was a guy? Why didn’t I feel anything for her when I sort of pretended to try and feel her up? I am not sure what to think now. Was that tingle like the start of what a woman feels when they are aroused?
I lay down on Jen’s couch and try to get comfortable, but it is just too soft for me. I hated it when we watched movies together because it just never provided good support. It looks nice, but isn’t very functional. I give up and turn her TV on. Maybe they will have more news about me. Maybe it will just be a big mistake, a joke and no one actually got hurt. A training exercise and all that for the police. Okay, probably not.
I tune her TV to one of the 24 hour news shows and wouldn’t you know it, I am just in time for them to start the piece where I am the reluctant star. They have a very high quality picture of me looking my best at looking my evilest. It was when I was posing during the contest and purposefully trying to look all sexy and sinister, like the real Mystique.
“Police are still searching for the newest alleged super villain who is going by the name of, Mystique.”
Crap! I am still the villain in this story. Well, at least I am now just an “alleged” super villain. That’s a positive, right?
“However; some new details and eyewitness accounts are emerging that paints a different picture for this troubled young woman at the center of attention.”
The evil picture of me is replaced with the happy and smiling picture of me when I was posing with some other convention goers. They also flash the picture of me and the fake Wolverine snarling at each other with obvious fake anger.
“Is she really just an innocent victim of The Riddler and The Joker’s evil plot that led to the successful heist of 300 million dollars from the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank last night?“
Oh shit. The police and the feds are really going to be upset about that. I am so so screwed.
“Or, was she planted at the Comic Convention to help scout out the security while pretending to just be a normal person in a costume? We have here someone who claims that she knows who this Mystique person really is...”
The screen behind the talking head comes to life and there is Kristen standing anxiously by, ready to be interviewed from the wreckage of the convention floor by another reporter.
“She’s not Mystique!” Kristen says.
Finally! Someone that can tell them what I’ve been trying to tell them all along.
“Well, who is she then?”
Rut Roh!
Kristen pauses in her defense of me. “I can’t tell you. It would ruin her secret identity, but...”
The report pounces. “You do realize that the police could charge you with obstructing justice, right? Two police officers are in critical condition right now and hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen from the Federal Reserve Bank.”
Bless her heart, but Kristen stands by me. “I don’t care. She is not a villain. She saved us all and she had people with machine....”
She is cut off before she can explain what really happened. “Sorry to interrupt you Kristen, but my producers just told me that someone from the FBI would like to have a word with you.”
Kristen doesn’t crack. Instead, she surprises me by getting angry. “I don’t care! She’s not a villain and she didn’t mean to...” She manages to get out before they cut the feed on her.
Bastards!
They cut back to the studio talking head. “Well, there you have it. The FBI is officially on the case and we have received reliable reports that the DMA is also actively investigating this incident.”
Oh yeah! That should help. Special Agent Helligan was there. She saw what happened. Why can’t she just tell them and fix everything right now?
Apparently, I am the newest big star because they completely ignore the fact that The Riddler was even at the freaking convention just so that they can ask more clueless eyewitnesses about me while showing more pictures of me in various poses. They end it with two pictures of me side by side. A sexy evil pose picture with me looking like I am about to attack the photographer along with a nice, friendly smiling picture of me with a group of fans. “Femme Fatale” or “Innocent Victim” is the caption.
I reach for the remote so that I can shut off the TV before I can get even more frustrated when the next story catches my eye. The
“...and in related news. The San Francisco VA Hospital was attacked last night by an unknown group of gunmen armed with assault rifles and wearing military grade body armor. Two DMA agents and one security guard are confirmed dead with an unknown number of staff and patients wounded. One patient has been confirmed to be missing, but citing patient confidentiality and an ongoing investigation by both the FBI and the DMA, a hospital spokesperson has been unwilling to release that patient’s name.”
Umm, that would be me and if the DMA and the FBI know that I was at the hospital; why am I still linked to The Riddler thing? Can’t they just come out and admit it so that people won’t think that I was with that asshole? I can admit to being stupid, but I am not a villain! Well, I didn’t mean to be a villain.
They don’t have much on that story, so they cut to some super important update about another movie star that did something stupid at a nightclub. Why in the hell can’t they be a ‘super villain’ for being stupid? I turn off the TV and sigh with frustration. I guess that it could be worse. They could just be showing all the evil pictures of me.
I try to get comfortable on the couch again, but after five minutes of frustration, I finally break down and venture into Jen’s room. She looks so peaceful. I feel a warm, tingling sensation from down below and this time, even my nipples seem to get into the act. Yep, I am definitely feeling aroused by the sight of Jen. Why now? Why didn’t I feel this way earlier?
I just do not know what to make of all of my conflicting emotions right now, but I do know that Jen makes me feel good, warm and safe. I want to show her how I feel about her. I want to touch her and make her feel good. I want her to feel loved and the more I think about those feelings, the more aroused that I feel myself getting. My groin feels very warm and my nipples feel like they are about to explode from the pressure that the sports bra is putting on them.
I feel myself biting my lip as the conflict builds up inside of me. I want to just rip off all my clothes and ravish her right now, but I doubt very much that she would feel grateful if I did that. I glance back to her living room and the couch, and then back to her. Then, back to her living room. When we were dating, we made out a lot on that couch.
Umm, maybe the couch isn’t that good a place to be right now. Too many memories of us together with me as a guy. I decide to just bite the bullet and lay down with her. If I stay on the edge of the bed and face away from her, maybe it won’t be so bad.
Decision reached, I quickly strip down to my panties and Jen doesn’t even register my presence as I pull up the covers and slide my mostly naked body under the sheets, joining her. She is still dead to the world. I lean over and once again, I fondly kiss her on the cheek. Then, I roll onto my side, with my back facing her and give her plenty of room so that she won’t think that I tried to make a move on her while she was sleeping. I sigh as I exhale a calming breath. Then, I close my eyes and the world with all my problems fade away as sleep overtakes me.
I feel myself climbing back to awareness and I feel so warm and comfortable that I never want to move. A warm body is snuggled up to my back and I have an arm wrapped possessively around my stomach with a smooth leg entangled with my smooth legs. It has to be Jen. I don’t think that I moved and it feels wonderful being hugged by Jen as I slowly wake up. What a nice way to wake up compared to being pulled out of the bed due to people trying to kidnap and/or kill you.
I look over to her alarm clock and notice that it is 11:32 AM. I slept for five hours and she is still asleep. I awkwardly twist my neck to turn and look back at Jen. I don’t want to wake her up, but I need to get out of the bed. I need to go to the bathroom. I try to extricate myself from her, but in doing so, she wakes. Then, she happily smiles at me and my heart skips a beat until she realizes who I am, where she is and what she is doing.
Jen fully awakens as she scrambles away from my side. “Oh my god, Ally! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean too, umm, you know.” She says as she also uses her arm to cover her exposed breasts from me.
Now, that she no longer has me trapped with her body, I slowly roll over to face her and prop myself up with my left arm. I ignore the fact that my breasts are completely exposed to her as I smile up at her. “Jen. It’s fine, really. It actually felt kind of nice waking up with you snuggled up against me.” I feel my heart sink with disappointment, but I can’t let her know that. She would be weirded out if she knew just how much attraction I felt for her right now. “I know that you didn’t mean it. It was just an accident.”
Jen relaxes and drops the arm covering her breasts. It takes a lot of willpower to remain focused on her eyes. “Oh, thank god!” She blushes. “I don’t know what came over me. I think I had this dream with you in it and I kind of remember snuggling up to you while you slept, sorry.”
“Really, Jen, it’s fine.” I say as I reach up to her face and affectionately move a stray strand of hair out of her eyes for her.
She closes her eyes and shudders briefly when my fingertips brush against the skin of her face. I notice her nipples start to stiffen and as much as I would love to follow up on her cue right now, I fear Jen’s rejection even more once she realizes what she is doing. “Jen! You’re freezing!” I say as I quickly get out of her bed, and then pull her comforter up and around her shoulders. She watches me with a slightly confused expression as I do that for her while also being mostly naked. I don’t think that thong panties really count.
“You’re beautiful.” She says with a note of wonder in her voice.
Now it is my turn to blush and this time my pale skin doesn’t hide that reaction in the slightest. “Umm, yeah.” I say as I look around the room for something to wear. No oversized baseball jerseys conveniently hung over the back of a chair for me.
She giggles at me. “And you’re blushing!”
With that observation, I grab my borrowed clothes off the floor, rush out of her room and into the bathroom so that I can make myself more presentable. After dressing, I take care of my original reason for wanting to get out of bed. Then, I follow that up by washing my hands and taking more than a few deep breaths to calm myself.
I turn to open the door to her bathroom when Jen surprises me by rushing in. “Oh! Thank god! I thought that you would never finish in here. I need to go pee!” She says as she runs over to her toilet, pulls her panties down, sits and promptly sighs with relief.
I feel a certain amount of pleasure when I note that she is comfortable enough with my presence to not bother with covering herself with a shirt before she ran in here. I pause for a second, then grab her brush and use it to quickly and efficiently put my hair up into a ponytail as she finishes up.
I take a polite step back as she approaches the sink so that she can wash her hands. I pretend to ignore her body and as I focus on making my ponytail tighter. It is a little bit trickier with High Elf Vylencia’s longer hair.
Jen seems to take an extra long time washing her hands.
I look at her via the mirror and she seems lost in thought as she mechanically goes through the motions of washing her hands, followed by drying her hands. She glances at the mirror and notices my concerned gaze.
“Jen, are you okay?” I softly ask.
Jen blinks once with surprise, but then she nervously bites her lip as she turns to fully face me, wrapping her arms around her chest in an attempt to cover herself. She looks a little nervous for some reason.
I reach past her, set the brush down, and then I take a half-step back before I place my hands on her bare shoulders. I can’t completely see her face. She is looking down at the floor and I am not sure if it is because she is nervous or afraid or something else. “Jen? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know...” She says in a whisper that even with my elf ears, I have a hard time hearing.
“What?” I ask.
She looks up to me and I see that her eyes are looking a little moist. She is on the verge of crying and not only does my heart skip a beat, but my stomach also twists around and into a few knots. I pull her to me and affectionately wrap her in my arms. She surprises me when she returns my hug, but I feel the pang of regret when I feel her start to pull away. I look back down and into her eyes as she pulls away just far enough to allow her to look up at me without straining her neck.
Jen is intently studying my face and eyes. She is looking for something, but I am not sure what because if I didn’t know any better; I would swear that she is searching my face to see how I might feel about her. She has to know that I do, but I know that she can’t love me anymore. Well, not in a sexual way.
“Kiss me.” She whispers.
Okay, I did not expect her to ask me to do that and I am sure that my eyes widen beyond what is normal as the surprise kicks in.
“Kiss me...” She says once again and I don’t need to be told twice. I do.
I am somewhat hesitant at first because I am still not sure what is happening. Maybe she is just being nice to me out of old times’ sake. Maybe she under some weird type of sleepwalking spell, but I don’t ever remember her sleep walking or saying that she has ever walked in her sleep before. Her lips feel nice against my lips, soft against soft. Her delicate scent fills my nostrils and she surprises me again when she passionately returns my initial, hesitant kiss. Her eyes are as wide open as my own eyes as we both study each other’s face for any hint of rejection or discomfort.
“We should get you some clothes...” Jen whispers as she brushes her lips against my neck, causing me to shiver with anticipation.
“Yeah...” I say as I return the favor for her.
“We should head to the mall, now...” Jen says before I kiss one of her nipples, causing her to gasp for air.
“Mmmm, good idea...” I say as she helps me remove the sports bra that I just put back on.
Jen places both her hands down the back of my pants. Then slides her hands to the sides of my hips, hooking her fingers under my panties just before she slowly pushes down to slide my pants and panties down my legs in one smooth motion. All while she kisses her way down the front of my chest before teasing me by blowing softly on the outer edges of my labia. Yes, I did pay attention when Dr. Keller educated me on my new parts and I refuse to refer to that part of my anatomy by using any term that can be used with a cat. I never felt comfortable using that slightly derogatory term, but at the same time I wrack my brain for something else to use instead. Coochie is the only cutesy word that springs to mind, but that word sounds too cute.
“Oh my god!” I shudder as my entire body tingles and my knees start to feel weak from the anticipation of her touch.
What was I just trying to figure out?
Finally free of all of my clothes, I return the favor for her with her panties. Then, Jen coyly leads me to her bed and all that I can think to myself over and over is, “OMG! OMG! OMG!” We start out slow and hesitant at first because neither one of us are exactly sure what to do. I find Jen’s body utterly irresistible and sexy. Given my earlier freak out over Jen’s self breast exam, I also find the fact that I am having those feelings for her a little confusing. Why didn’t I feel anything for her then?
So, I am a little worried that this is just some temporary insanity on my part and that Jen is just experimenting with this and will quickly discover that she just can’t overcome the fact that I am not a man anymore. I know that if our roles were reversed, that there would be no way that I could even attempt to make love to another man.
After we both share an orgasm or two or three together, all of those doubts fly out the window and I concentrate every fiber of my being on making Jen feel as good, if not better, than she is making me feel. I never, ever, not in a million years could have imagined that sex as a woman could feel so fulfilling. Why couldn’t I have been shocked to death sooner?
We finally collapse in each other’s arms after almost an hour. I sort of recall feeling a little scared when she brought out a toy, but now I am having trouble even remembering why I liked having sex as a man. Why do women even have sex with men when they have those amazing battery powered things? My entire body feels like jello and how she finds the energy to prop herself up enough to lean over and kiss me once more, I will never know.
“Thanks.” Jen says with wonder in her eyes.
“Umm, for what?” I say as I struggle not to pant from exhaustion. I am sure that I look like a smiling, happy fool because I can’t recall ever feeling this good before. I can’t believe that she just had sex with me. Afterglow? Hell, how about total and complete mind numbing, bone deep satisfaction? It wasn’t just sex. I have never felt so connected and a part of another person until now. I feel completely and utterly star struck in love with her.
Jen smiles as she reads the expression on my face. “For being you and for loving me. I have never even kissed another girl before and I never had the desire to either, but you made it...” She closes her eyes as if savoring a memory. “...magical and I love you, Valerie Allison Wilson.”
I can’t help it, I start to cry. “I love you too Jennifer Marie Ittner.” I manage to choke out before I completely lose it. She pulls me into a hug and kisses me until I stop crying. I can’t help trying to compare sex with Jen as a girl with sex with Jen as a man and I fail. The experience is not even close to the same. I never once felt like she was giving herself to me or that I was forcing myself onto her. Instead, it felt like we shared ourselves with each other, totally and completely with neither one of us giving up anything to each other.
“I need to take a shower.” Jen says breaking my line of thought.
“Me too...” I whisper.
Half an hour later, my knees feel like jello again, but we are both clean. It takes us another half an hour before our hair is dry and we are once again fully clothed and presentable to the public. This time, instead of her painfully small sneakers, she hands me a pair of flip-flop sandals to wear. Unfortunately, they are pink, but they also don’t hurt my toes when I walk in them.
During the drive to the mall, neither one of us can stop singing that “I kissed a girl...” song then breaking out into giggles and laughing at each other. Not even the occasional sight of a police car can break our mood.
We enter the mall, arm in arm and giggling at each other like silly school girls. No one looks at us like we are doing something immoral. If two guys walked around like we are, pretty much everyone would be turning up their noses with disgust at their flagrant display of affection for each other. I guess that our happy and touchy feelie behavior is normal for girls.
We are both pretty hungry so we make a beeline for a sit down restaurant. Neither one of us find the idea of eating in the food court all that appealing. I just want to be as alone with her as possible for as long as possible. It is a little difficult to do it, but I manage to force myself to sit across from her. We both receive plenty of second looks from the guys and Jen takes great pride and pleasure in informing me that they are all looking at me, her hot and sexy girlfriend.
This time, when she says girlfriend, she is saying like I am her girlfriend versus just a girl who is her friend and that makes me smile almost uncontrollably. Seriously, I have never felt happier in my entire life than I am feeling right this second. Nothing can bring me down, not even the nationwide manhunt for me.
Then, I see the boy and his mother sitting a few spots away from us and my mood instantly crashes. The mother is facing away from me and I can sense her bone crushing fatigue. She is so tired, but her son is so very sick. He has pancreatic cancer and it has spread into his other organs. It is killing him and his health is down to 50%, but he seems to be happy despite the pain that he has to be suffering.
Jen notices my expression falter as she looks up from the menu that she is studying. “Ally? What’s wrong?” She asks as she reaches for and grabs my hand.
Point with my eyes and Jen risks a quick glance behind her. “That boy over there. He has cancer. He is dying and there is probably nothing that his doctors can do for him. The cancer has spread through most of his body and his mom is practically falling asleep.” I say as I dab my eyes with my napkin.
Jen turns back to me. “Can you cure him?”
“Hi! I’m Michelle and I will be your server today. Is there anything that I can get you ladies to drink right away?” A cute, young blonde girl who looks to be about 18 asks us.
That distracts me from answering Jen right away. “Umm, sure Michelle, can I have an ice tea?” I ask.
“Sure!” Michelle then turns to Jen. “And for you?”
“I’ll take the same, thanks.” Jen says, smiling at the server.
I wait until our server leaves before I turn back to Jen. “Yes, I think that I can cure him, but I saw you smile at our server. You better not be thinking about cheating on me already!” I say, followed by an almost embarrassing giggle at her shocked expression.
I glance at my menu and the sight of a juicy steak does nothing for me, but the salad does. Now that I am a high elf, maybe I am now a herbivore instead of a carnivore. I decide to not question my instincts. When our server, Michelle returns with our drinks; I order the salad while Jen surprises me and orders the same.
My gaze keeps being drawn to the boy. I feel so bad for him and his mom. It has got to be heartbreaking to watch your child practically die in front of your eyes and feel powerless to help him. I feel Jen holding my hand again as my eyes begin to sting.
“Why don’t you go talk to him? Maybe you can sneak a heal?” She asks.
“I dunno if I can sneak a heal. You glowed when I cured you. I am pretty sure that people would notice that.” I say.
“I glowed?” Jen asks looking down at herself with confusion.
“Well, yeah....didn’t you see it?” I ask.
“Umm, no?” Jen says as her expression settles into her ‘I have an idea’ look.
“What?” I ask.
“Let’s run to the bathroom and if no one is in there, you can try casting a cure on me again while I look at myself in the mirror to see if I glow.” Jen says just loud enough for me to hear as she pulls me out of our booth and towards the bathroom.
Luckily, there is no one else in the bathroom when we enter it, so I quickly cast my Purify spell on her while she watches herself in the mirror. I see a glow.
“Did you see it?” I ask.
Jen shakes her head, “no”. Then, she smiles at me. “Well, it looks like you can cure him now, right?” She asks.
I nod my head and smile with pleasure. I can’t wait to help the boy. We sneak a quick kiss before we exit the bathroom and return to our table. Our food has not arrived and even though a salad shouldn’t take that long to make, I don’t expect it to arrive for another five or ten minutes.
I walk over to the boy’s table and that is when I notice that he is happily reading a worn out Wolverine comic book as his mom just stares at him with a fragile smile on her face. “Oh my god! Is that a Wolverine comic book?” I ask the boy.
He looks up at me and his smile almost breaks my heart right then and there. “Yeah! It’s the one where Wolverine fights Spiderman!” He says before he starts to lightly cough.
It’s hard, but I ignore his cough instead of casting my Purify spell on him right then and there. “Oh! I heard about that one! Can I sit with you and read some of it with you while I wait for my food to arrive?” I ask him while glancing at his mom to see if it will really be okay. Her smile and quick nod tells me that it will be okay with her. It is also hard to not cast my Refresh spell on her right then too.
The boy is very excited about having me sitting next to him and showing an interest in his comic book. “You’re very pretty. Can you be my girlfriend?” He asks with childlike innocence that makes his mom’s eyes begin to water.
She almost loses it when I give him a gentle hug and kiss him on his cheek. “Sure! I am officially your girlfriend for today, but I don’t think that we will be able to spend much time together doing all the boyfriend and girlfriend things today.” I say with a gentle smile as I steal quick glances at his mom to make sure that I am not crossing the line with her.
“Oh, that’s okay. I am too sick anyway, plus I don’t want to get girl cooties.” He says as he struggles not to cough again.
“Umm, I’m sorry, umm...” His mom pauses with a pained expression on her face.
“Allison. Sorry that I didn’t introduce myself.” I say as I supply her with my name.
She smiles and waves my apology away. “Oh that’s okay, Allison, but would you mind if I leave Cody with you while I run to the bathroom real quick?” She asks.
Awesome! That is just what I need to make sure she doesn’t notice me trying to cure her son. I smile at her. “Sure, umm?” I ask, prompting her for her name.
“Sorry. I’m Heather. Are you sure that you don’t mind?” She asks, almost like she expects me to refuse her for some reason. Sure, I know that her son is sick, but he’s not contagious or anything.
“No, not at all. Besides, how else can I be alone with my boyfriend on our first date?” I ask as I give Cody a hug and smile at her.
Cody pushes me away. “Ewww!”
The pain fades from her face as her smile reaches her eyes. “Thanks!” She says as she rushes past me and heads towards the bathrooms.
I spot Jen intently watching my little adventure while trying not to look like she is watching. “So, Cody, why do you like Wolverine so much?” I ask.
“Because he can heal from any wound, never ever get sick and he has wicked cool claws that can slice through anything!” Cody says with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.
I find myself nodding my head with agreement. “Plus, he is stubborn and he never gives up on a friend.” I say, adding my own two cents.
“Yeah! I wish that I was like him so that I wouldn't be so sick all the time.” Cody says without any bitterness, just longing.
I can’t handle it any longer. “Well, maybe the doctors will be wrong this time.” I say as I release my Purify spell on him. I see him glow very very brightly as the magic works its way through his body, burning out the cancer. I can’t believe that no one else can see it, but no one yells about the bright light or anything.
“That tickles.” He says with a giggle as his eyes brighten as the cancer is flushed from his body.
“What tickles?” I ask, pretending to not know what he is talking about.
He looks at me with even more wonder in his eyes. “Are you an angel?” He asks as the glow finally fades from my sight.
Oh crap!
It takes everything I have to not bolt on him right then and there. “Umm, nope. I’m just your girlfriend.” I say with a nervous smile and a glance at Jen.
Cody looks a little disappointed with my denial, but he powers through it and seems to accept it at face value. “Oh. Oh well. Maybe when I am older you can be my girlfriend for real?” He asks.
I can’t help it. I grab a spare napkin and use it to blot my eyes before the tears really get bad. “Sure, Cody. I would like that.” I say and amazingly, I actually feel like I mean it.
Heather chooses that moment to return to the table and my food also arrives. “Thanks Allison!” She says as she slides back into her seat and looks back to my table. “It looks like your food has arrived.”
I ambush Cody with another kiss on his cheek and a quick hug before he can object. Then, I slide out of their booth. “Thanks, Heather! Cody is a keeper. Maybe the doctors will have better news for you at his next visit.” I say as I attempt to escape from their table before they realize that something just happened or that I knew just how sick he really was.
Heather stops me by grabbing my hand before I can leave. “Thanks Allison. You didn’t have to do that, but you really made his day with your little visit.” She gently says before letting my hand go with a thankful squeeze.
I manage to nod and smile at her as I slowly turn away and walk back to our table. My eyes are full of happy tears that threaten to burst at any second. I dab my eyes a few times with the napkin to prevent that as I slide back into my seat and smile appreciatively at Jen.
“Did it work?” Jen softly asks as she pauses with her fork poised to spear a juicy cherry tomato in her salad.
“Yep!” I excitedly whisper as I reach for my fork. Yep, I am a vegetarian when I am in this body. The salad is freaking awesome tasting and I find that the smell of the meat dishes from the surrounding tables upsets my stomach a little.
The rest of our meal passes uneventfully, but I start get a little worried when I hear Cody trying to explain to his mom about how he feels better and that he wants to hurry up and get home so that he can play in the playground with his friends.
We finish before they do and I can’t resist giving Cody one last ninja hug on our way out.
Heather laughs at her son’s reaction as he pushes me away with a disgusted look on his face. “Thanks again Allison! You really are an angel!” She says, much to my consternation.
Jen struggles to stifle a laugh.
“It’s not funny!” I whisper as I finally escape the restaurant.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. White Queen, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note:I thought that his one was ready last week, but I wanted to get the next Whisper chapter out before I posted this one. Then, I got distracted with a different story idea. Then, I found some 'bugs' in my writing for this chapter. So, I fixed them...I think. Here it is, enjoy! Please. Thanks to djkauf for editing.
Jen drags me to a clothing store first. I feel pretty happy about what I did for Cody, but also a little disappointed that I won’t be able to see his mom’s reaction when the doctors discover that he is no longer sick. Walking hand in hand with Jen helps remove some of that disappointment, though. I can’t believe how happy she makes me feel.
Unfortunately, along the way to the store, I notice a few more sick people and it saddens me that I can’t just run up and help them. In DBO, when I was waiting on the rest of the team to login, I would sometimes ninja-heal and ninja-buff, I mean sneak heals on the newbies in the low level zones. As we walk through the mall, I feel the same urge to help, but this is real life and not a game. In DBO, the players that I helped would sometime shout out their thanks, but in real life, I can only imagine what might happen if some sick dude in a wheelchair got up and walked away after I healed him.
I am distracted from those darker thoughts as we enter the store. I look up and I am practically assaulted by the huge range of clothing options spread out before me. Men’s stores never had this much variety and I have no idea what to even start looking at. Until, I spot ‘it’ displayed on a mannequin off to the side of the store. ‘It’ is a dress and not just any dress, but a black dress that I am pretty sure that if I wore it, Jen would not be able to keep her hands off me and I find that idea making me start to feel embarrassingly aroused again.
Jen spots the object of my fixed stare. “Oh! Yeah, Ally. With your complexion and hair, I think that would look awesome on you!” She says as I make a beeline straight for it.
One of the sales girls intercepts me and I immediately detect the early stages of eczema that she is hiding beneath her clothes. Poor girl, that must really itch. Her name badge identifies her as ‘Andrea’.
“Here, let me grab a pair of shoes for you that I think will match that dress and you perfectly.” Andrea says with a pleased smile. She knows that she has a fish on the line and that I am solidly hooked. “What size are you?”
As Mystique, I mean, my other self, I was a size 7, but now that I am taller and Jen’s size 7 shoes are too small for me.
“Umm, 8?” I say with an ashamed grin as I look down at my feet.
Andrea smiles. “I’ll be right back!”
She leaves and I pull a copy of the dress in what I think might be my size off the rack. I hold it up against my chest and it looks like it might be too small.
Jen nods her head and smiles at me. “Oh yeah, that is the one. It looks like it is the perfect size for you. Good eye, Ally!”
“Really?” I ask because it really does look like it will be too small for me, but I decide to trust her assessment. After all, she is the expert and I am just the noobie in this zone.
“Yep, but we also need to find a bra for you too. You can’t wear what you currently have on with that dress.” Jen says as she gestures towards the bra and panty, umm, lingerie section of the store.
They have a ton of, dare I admit this, very cute and sexy stuff back there. Jen’s pointed glances at specific bras and panty designs serve to drive the point home with me. What is left of my fragile male ego is huddling in the corner of my mind screaming for mercy because I can’t stop myself from imagining myself wearing some of those items for Jen and feeling sexy while doing so.
I look at the black dress in my arms, and then hesitantly reach for a black bra and panty set that I think will go with the dress. Jen confirms my selection with a nod and smile. I am not sure what bra size I wear now, but I was a 34C. I think I have the same size chest, but I am definitely a little smaller up top, so I grab a 34B to try on instead.
I take the dress, panties and bra to the fitting rooms and Jen surprises me by joining me like nothing is wrong. I mean, she would sometimes join me in the fitting room when I was a guy so that she could provide her feedback right away. I am a girl now though. Guys never ‘help’ each other in the fitting rooms when they shop, if they even shop. Maybe girls are less uptight about that?
Jen makes it a little difficult on me when she sneaks a kiss on one of my exposed nipples when she ‘helps’ me remove my sports bra.
Wow!
Her kiss sends a little shock straight down my spine and directly to my groin, making me gasp with surprise. “Jen! You’re so evil!” I whisper as she just giggles at my reaction. My breasts also feel so much better not being smashed by the sports bra. She was definitely right about that.
I try on the bra and it fits, but it also pushes my breasts up a lot more than the bras that my mom got for me. It seems that my mom, umm, I mean Kim, was a bit more conservative in her selections for me. Not that I am complaining in any way. No, no, no, because I think that if she had bought me one of these sexy bras; I would have screamed bloody murder.
I take off my pants and as I bend over to pull my feet out from the ends, Jen uses that opportunity to pinch my butt. “Jen!” I half heartedly slap her hand away and I feel myself blushing from head to toe with embarrassment. Now I know how she felt when I would sneak a grope on her in public.
“What if someone sees us?” I ask, with a whisper.
Jen just smiles at me and hands me the panties that I picked out. “Really? You try on underwear too?” I ask, flabbergasted by the idea that women get totally naked and try on underwear at the store. What if they don’t fit and they return it to the rack?
Jen answers me by rolling her eyes and sighing at me. “Yes, now put them on, and then let’s get that dress on you. I can’t wait to see how it looks on you.”
This time, I turn to face her so that she can’t pinch my butt as I remove my panties and try on the new ones.
“Killjoy...” Jen says with a sigh.
Oh, they feel nice. I kind of forgot that I had a string up my butt, but these feel comfy right from the start. Next, I grab the dress and try to figure out just how I am supposed to wear it. It doesn’t look like I can step into it like a pair of pants. There is only a small button that closes a small six inch slit that reaches down from the back of where my neck should go. Maybe I put it on like a t-shirt? To confirm my guess, I glance back to Jen before I try that technique.
“Yep, over your head, like a t-shirt, then button it up in the back.” Jen helpfully instructs me.
I self-consciously slip the black dress over my head and pull it down until my head is through the neck hole and the bottom, umm, hem reaches to just below my knees. My arms and shoulders are exposed, but my chest is completely covered from just below the top of my breastbone. It feels a little strange to be wearing something that covers me so completely, yet also feels so tight against my body as it hugs and shows off my every curve. However, the killer feature of the dress is the single slit on one side that extends to just above mid-thigh.
“Okay, that looks, ummm, really nice on you.” Jen says with a slight flush. “But, I think we should head back out to the floor, find a belt and see if Andrea has those shoes for you yet.”
Jen stuffs my borrowed exercise pants, panties and sports bra into her purse as I head out to find Andrea. I don’t have to go far because she is standing just a few feet away from the door to my changing room with a grin that I can’t quite decipher. In addition to a pair of black suede boots in her hands, she also has a gold colored, narrow metal chain belt with a faux diamond heart shaped buckle.
“Here you go. I think that this gold belt with your hair, along with these boots would look perfect on you.” Andrea says as she hands the items to me.
“Umm, thanks.” I say with a slight blush. She has to know what we were doing in the changing room.
Both Jen and Andrea patiently wait as I wrap and buckle the belt around my waist before I step into the boots. Why am I not surprised that the heels on these boots are even taller than my Mystique boots? They do look nice though and after Jen and Andrea team up to make me walk down the hall and back; I now know that my Mystique walk has become a permanent muscle memory for both of my bodies.
They both look slightly jealous of me and that makes me smile with satisfaction. “Well, Jen? It might be a little dressy, but what do you think?” I ask as I twirl for her, even though I already know exactly what she is thinking. The flushed skin on her neck and how she is shifting her stance tells me all that I need to know.
“Is she a model?” Andrea mock whispers in Jen’s ear.
Jen just hands Andrea her credit card. “We will take it and she, will walk out of here wearing it. That is okay, right?” Jen asks without really asking for permission.
“Of course, ma’am.” Andrea says as I follow them both up to the front of the store.
“I hate you!” I whisper to Jen, but make sure that it is loud enough for Andrea to hear too. I can feel my new bra pushing up my breasts, causing them bounce just a little more than I am used to. Not that I am really used to them just yet, but the motion is, umm, different. The strange cut of my new panties against my skin also add to my general awareness of my femininity and even though this dress isn’t as revealing as my Mystique costume; I feel more exposed due to the fact that this is a real dress and most definitely not a costume.
Andrea is all smiles as she rings us up and wishes for both of us to have a good day. I toss a Purify her way as I pass her and I anxiously watch her reaction as she shivers for a second. Then, she nervously looks around to see if anyone noticed her shivering for no apparent reason. Nope, just me.
“Sorry, got a chill there all of a sudden.” Andrea says.
It might take her a few hours or even days before she realizes that her eczema is all gone. She will never know that I cured her of it. She will probably just think that it is in relapse versus cured and by the time she and her doctors realize that, if ever; I won’t even be a memory to her, but I will know and that makes me feel very happy with myself.
The gaggle of senior citizen shoppers that are making their way towards us almost brings me to my knees. Jen is the only reason that I don’t fall flat on my face.
“Ally? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Did you twist your ankle or something?” Jen asks as she searches my face while maintaining a firm grip on my arm to help steady me.
I don’t actually feel their pain, but it is sort of like when I played the healer in a large raid and the big, bad boss monster we were all fighting suddenly unleashed their nasty breath weapon on everyone. Bam! Flashing red and black icons and as the player’s health bars drop like rocks while whatever fire, ice, disease, poison or acid the big bad monster used worked to kill them. Then, I scramble like crazy to cure/heal them all and myself before the raid is wiped out. Plus, as if I didn’t already know that they needed heals, the players themselves would sometimes scream at me to heal them too.
Okay, so it is not that bad. The ‘raid’ of senior citizens is not yelling at me to heal them and their health bars are pretty steady, a little low, but steady. The thing that stands out about them is the fact that almost all of them are suffering from at least one chronic disease and half of those are also suffering from early stage and long term fatal diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. I almost feel like I am abandoning them when I finally manage to tear my eyes away from the group.
That doesn’t help very much because when I turn away from them, I spot a young man with a short haircut in a wheelchair. He looks like he is or was in the military and I can see that the left side of his face is heavily scarred; he is blind in his left eye, deaf in his left ear while his left shoulder is held together with titanium rods that will do nothing for the destroyed muscles and torn ligaments. However, the worst injury and the one that put him in the wheelchair is the damage to his spine just below his shoulder blades. How I know exactly what his injuries are, I cannot say because in DBO; all I could see what the player’s overall health score. Individual disease or poisons, yes, but specific injuries, no.
“Umm, I know that I need more clothes than just this dress, but can we go home now? I think that I need to rest, or something.” I say as clutch on to Jen for dear life. I want so badly to run over and heal that guy, but something like that would be pretty hard to explain away.
Jen holds on to me and I can sense her worry for my health as she studies my face to gauge how I am feeling. Her head turns away from me to follow my gaze. “Oh...” She says just as the guy spots us both now looking at him.
His one good eye flashes in anger. “What!? Do you two have a problem with me?” He asks somewhat bitterly and since we are about 20 feet away; loud enough for a lot of people to overhear.
I glance around to see if anyone else is watching this little scene, but as soon as people see what the commotion is all about; they all turn away with embarrassment and shame. They are probably just glad that the dude didn’t yell at them.
The guy wheels his chair towards us. “What? You don’t like seeing a ‘cripple’ in the same mall with you while you try to laugh and have fun on your mommy’s dime?” He snarls at us with a surprising amount of pain and bitterness.
I find it hard to blame him. Now that he is closer to us, I can tell that his injuries are fairly recent. The scars on his face are still healing. I can also tell that he is suffering from some radiation based nerve disease. I remember seeing something on the news about depleted uranium ammunition. Maybe that is what is causing his current disease. Seeing something that I can help him with helps steady my resolve. I glance over to Jen and she looks like she is thinking about telling him off.
“No...” I say, smiling to show her that it is okay before I turn back to face the guy head on.
He stops about five feet away from us and glares at us like he expects us both to wilt, apologize or run away screaming in terror from the sight of his injuries and his anger.
“I’m sorry.” I say as I step towards him. “I didn’t mean to stare, but the sight of you reminded me of a soldier I saw at the VA Hospital earlier this week. Are you in the Army or something?”
Well, I did see a few injured soldiers at the hospital, but always from a distance and very briefly. I was kind of busy and isolated on my floor, but he doesn’t need to know that. His expression starts to falter as he realizes that we might not have be looking at him with the revulsion that he might be used to seeing in other people. “Yeah, I was...” He softly says.
His simple three word reply is so heavy with emotion that I can almost feel his regret and sense of loss myself. “I’m sorry, but when I saw you sitting over there. You reminded me of how much pain he was in and also how much pain his family was in and well, I just wanted to say, thank you.” I say, sort of laying it on a little thick there, but the tears that are threatening to burst from my eyes are real and they help sell it.
He surprises me by gently grabbing my hand with his good hand. “Hey, sorry ma’am. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I’m just so, ummm...” He says trailing off with shame.
In return, I squeeze his hand. Then, I impulsively lean over and give him a kiss on his forehead, just as I release my Purify spell on him, causing him to shiver a few times. “Sorry, that I can’t do more.” I say with a whisper as I pull away from him with the tears now falling freely from my eyes.
I quickly lead Jen away and as I glance back at him, he has turned his wheelchair to follow us, but he looks like someone just punched him right between the eyes. He is just sitting still, but he is smiling and it is one of those dreamy, “I can’t believe that she just kissed me” smiles that I remember feeling just this morning with Jen.
That brightens my mood considerably as Jen hands me a tissue from her purse. I can’t believe that she has any left in there. Jen doesn’t say anything as we walk, hand in hand to her car. Once again, she has that ‘I’m thinking’ expression. I am worried about what she is worried about.
That makes me start to think about the DMA, FBI and everyone else now hunting for me. What if I turned myself in like I am now, a High Elf healer? I could heal the police that I hurt and probably everyone else in that hospital. That would have to make them not want to put me in jail, right? I would be too important to have around. Hmmm, I could probably make a shit ton of money too.
Who else can cure cancer? I mean really cure it, not just have it go into remission. I think that I could even heal that soldier’s spine injury. I have a regeneration spell. It didn’t actually regenerate limbs or organs in the game, but it might in real life. I could save so many lives that the government would be crazy to put me in jail.
I am so lost in thought with planning my life and trying to adjust the shoulder belt around my breasts that I realize that Jen still hasn’t started the car. I self-consciously glance over at her and she is just staring at me with what looks suspiciously like wonder or something.
“You know? For being new at this, you are really good at being a girl.” Jen says.
That announcement stops me in my tracks. “Huh?” I ask as I quickly self review all my actions to try and spot what she is referring too.
“Ally, you’re amazing! This morning was nothing short of...” She stops and blushes as she recalls what we did before coming here. “...and ummm, how you reacted to that sick boy in the restaurant. How you spotted the dress. How you handled and then kissed that guy in the wheelchair. You’re a natural.”
“Umm...” I am floored. Other than all the bleeping crying, I never thought that I was doing anything weird enough to be considered “girl” behavior. Well, other than kissing that guy, but I didn’t really kiss, kiss him. That was just like one of those European goodbye kisses that even the guys do over there, right?
“No, really. You even just sat down like a woman who has been wearing dresses all her life.”
Jen says as she grabs my hand and pulls me closer to her.
“I did?” I ask.
“Yep!” Jen grins as I mentally rewind my alleged girl sitting technique.
I really don’t think that I did anything all that girlish with that. It was really the only way to sit in her car without flashing everyone my panties or wrinkling my dress. Besides, I have seen plenty of women sit down at the office using the same technique and I also remember seeing the lines on the dresses for the women who accidently forgot. Not that I was actually staring at their butts or anything so creepy. Even though, I have to admit that some of them did have some really nice butts, purely from an artistic perspective.
Jen kisses me as she sneaks her hand up my dress and I sort of lose track of where I was going with that line of thought. When she finally breaks our kiss, she leaves me gasping for breath and squirming in my seat. She giggles at me before finally starting the car. “You should see your face!”
“Meany!” I say as I stick my tongue out at her in a perfectly adult manner before we both break down into uncontrollable giggles.
I am in a very good mood again as we leave the mall parking lot, but then Jen turns her radio on and as luck would have it, instead of music, they are providing an update on the “gripping” Mystique story and the now nationwide manhunt for the “vicious” and “dangerous” villainess, me. That depresses me again and the up and down mood swings are really starting to get on my nerves. Why can’t they just leave me alone? I didn’t mean to hurt those cops. Why hasn’t the DMA said something?
I can’t take it anymore. I turn off the radio. Then, I sigh, lean back in my seat and stare despondently out the window at the city with all its happy people just moving on with their lives. Why can’t I do the same? I feel sohopeless. “I should turn myself in. They won’t give up now.” I say.
Jen doesn’t say anything, but she does reach over and hold my hand as she pulls her car into an open parking lot, stops the motor and turns to me. “Ally, look at me, please?” She pleads while pulling my hand to her breast with both of her hands.
I really can’t believe that I am not dehydrated from all the tears I have shed today. I don’t want her to see me crying again, but I also don’t want to ignore her either. I turn to face her and the pain in her eyes almost breaks my resolve.
“John or Ally or Valerie or whatever form or name you take, I don’t want to lose you again.” Jen says as tears begin to stream from her eyes and slowly drip onto my arm.
“They won’t give up. You heard them. I am a vicious and dangerous killer.” I say with bitterness and anger as I pull my hand away from her and fold my arms across my chest.
“You’re not either of those and they didn’t say you were a killer.” Jen says, trying to diffuse the situation.
I refuse to let her talk me out of my decision. “When they do find me, they might kill or hurt you just to get me and if that happened, there is no telling what I might do. It would literally kill me to see you get hurt because of me.”
“Ally, I’m an adult. I know what I am getting into and you’re worth it.” Jen says as she reaches for me to try and pull me into a hug.
I push her away because I don’t think that I would be able to maintain my resolve and do what I know is the right thing to do. “No, no I am not. I also don’t want you to spend even a second in jail for being an ‘accessory’ or an ‘accomplice’ of mine when they finally do catch me.”
Jen starts to really cry and that more than anything breaks my heart. “Please...” She says, pleading with me to change my mind.
“Sorry Jen. Just let me out here. I will flag down the next cop I see and turn myself in.”
“No! Damnit, John! I won’t let you!” Jen says with desperation and panic fighting each other to escape.
I am glad that she pulled into the empty side of the lot and that no one can hear us, but I notice that she accidentally called me by my old name. She is more upset than I expected her to get about this. Can’t she see that I love her more than anything? More than life itself and that I can’t let her get hurt because of me?
Jen refuses to give up. “I will turn myself in with you, and then once they see all the good that you can do, they will let you go and we can both be happy.” She starts her car and I can tell that she fully intends to do just that; probably by driving us both to the nearest police station.
I hesitate. The idea is tempting. I can help a lot of people and the government would be pretty damn stupid to keep either of us in jail once they find out what I can do for people. I almost give in, but then another possibility or consequence bubbles to the surface of my mind. It scares the crap out of me.
I scramble for her keys and turn off the ignition before she can put her car in gear to pull out of our parking spot.
“Ally! What are you doing?!?” Jen yells.
“I can’t turn myself in like this!” I say, desperately gesturing down to my current body.
Jen looks confused. “What? Why? I don’t understand...we can do this, together. Don’t you want to be with me?”
Now she looks positively devastated by what she must think as me not wanting to be with her. Tears are pouring down my face and I can barely speak from all the emotion that I am feeling. “Yes, I mean no. You mean more to me than life itself. Jen, you ‘have to’ know that, but if I do turn myself in like this, I will never ever be free again. Together, we will never be able to be free and I can’t, I just can’t let that happen to us.” I desperately say, hoping that she will understand.
Jen doesn’t. “Ally, I don’t understand. What do you mean?” She asks.
“Jen, what happened to the last person who could heal the sick, walk on water, turn water into wine and make bread out of thin air?” I softly ask.
Jen might not want to make the connection, but she is smart and it takes her less than a second to arrive at the same conclusion that it took me over an hour to finally piece together. “No, they wouldn’t!” She gasps as she reaches for my hands and I don’t pull them away this time.
“Jen? Do you honestly believe that for even a second?” I ask as I gaze sternly into her eyes.
I watch as her resolve flickers and fades. “No...” She whispers as she slowly turns her head away from me to stare out of the front window.
I hate to do it, but I have to drive home my theory before she starts trying to find holes that are just too thin to provide any real hope for me. “Look, Jen,” She turns back to face me. “, if I was lucky, they would keep me in what would effectively be a golden cage and parade me from hospital to hospital, city to city and maybe even country to country to heal the sick. You know that, right?” I ask and she slowly, but hesitantly nods her head even as her eyes tell me that she is trying to find some sort of hope to cling on to.
“...and, if I was unlucky, only the rich and powerful would get access to me. I would be forced to heal only the people that they thought deserved to be healed and even if that didn’t happen, as soon as the public found out about me; half of them would think of me as some angel from heaven. Cody and his mom are perfect examples of that and they didn’t even know. The other half would think that I am some demon in disguise and want to kill me, while all of the major religions would be out to get me, for one purpose or another. I would be the anti-Christ to some and the second coming to others. In other words, it would be pure hell on earth for both of us and there would NEVER be any rest or peace for either of us. We would NEVER be allowed to be together. You would just become a tool that the evil bastards would use to control and hurt me with.”
That does it. She breaks down with defeat and this time I am the one who reaches for and holds her as we both sob our hearts out in each other’s arms. It takes us both five or ten minutes before we are able to regain some measure of emotional control. Then, we just sit in our seats staring listlessly out of the front windshield for another ten minutes or more before either of us can dredge up the energy to start thinking about what to do now.
“Jen, can you drive me to someplace near my old apartment? Like maybe find some alley that I can just jump out of your car, switch back to Mystique and hide in for long enough for you to get back to your apartment and be safe? Then, I can just walk out, flag down a cop and let them arrest me. I will just pretend that I was hiding out in the sewer or a trashcan or something.”
I can tell that she doesn’t like that plan, but she tiredly nods her acceptance. Then, with one last, pleading glance at me, she starts her car and pulls out of the parking lot. I silently watch her stony and tear streaked face as she merges her car back into the early afternoon traffic that is just now starting to pick up as some of the nearby office workers begin to trickle out and leave work early.
I direct her to a run down and half vacant shopping center that is only a mile from my apartment. There used to be a really good Chinese restaurant in that place, but it closed down six months ago after its owners could no longer attract enough business.
I once drove through the back side of the stores there, thinking that I could find a shortcut home, but instead I was forced to turn back around when my way was blocked by the train tracks that ran behind the place. I was really bummed about that because I could see the side street that would have saved me three traffic lights on my way home with a hot takeout bag of General Tso’s chicken.
However, the two really important things that I remember about that place is how secluded it was then and that there was a large drainage culvert that would make an excellent place for me to hide out as Mystique. I just hope that hasn’t changed since then.
We end up driving only a few blocks away from my old apartment complex, but we have a flash of panic when we are forced to the side of the street when a horde of police cars scream past us; heading right for my apartment complex. I think that they might have just figured out that I might not be in California anymore.
Yeah, they are definitely pissed at me and after Jen and I share nervous glances at each other, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am making the right decision. I think that Jen knows that now too. I might end up in jail for hurting those cops, but eventually, I will get out. Unlike the other option, there is no future that I can envision for either of us with that path.
Jen slowly drives her car into the area behind the shopping complex while I look in every direction to try to spot any security cameras or people who might be able to see us. I see neither, but I am still a little reluctant to leave Jen’s side when we reach an area of the complex that is partially hidden from outside view and the area is directly across from the drainage culvert that I plan on temporarily hiding out in until the police can ‘find’ me.
I jump out of her car and hide beside a big trash dumpster to make my Aspect change. I thought about trying to change in the car, but I wasn’t sure if that would have worked. I think that I need to be standing and in the open. Well, that is how it works in DBO, but there are also no cars in the game. So, who knows? I am not willing to take the chance that I will end up as part of Jen’s car like some Star Trek transporter accident victim.
After a quick glance around to make sure no one can see me, I flip the mental switch and after the flash of dizziness passes, I feel...I am not sure what I feel. I didn’t expect to feel anything, but the sudden loss of four inches, the extra weight on my chest, and as I look down at my body, the blue skin and the Mystique costume with the fake gun all combine to make me feel trapped.
It has only been a few seconds, but I already miss being a High Elf. I am a Dark Elf and there is no way that I can ever hope to walk down the street or a mall without attracting the wrong kind of attention. Even if by some miracle, I am acquitted of all the charges that I am sure they have just waiting for me.; There is no way that Cody’s mom would have ever let me sit next to her son or even felt comfortable with me being in the same restaurant with them.
Will Jen find this body attractive? Heck, what about Kim and her family? I know that she didn’t have a problem with me as a Dark Elf, but what about now? Will her husband and children feel safe with me around? Will Kim still love me? The shock of all those realizations makes me want to scream in panic as I feel myself starting to hyperventilate.
“Ally! Is something wrong?” I hear Jen anxiously whisper as she furiously works the crank to lower her window.
Her voice snaps me back to the matter at hand and I reflexively look away from myself. I look back up and at her. She is what pulls me back. Jen is why I am doing this. Okay, so not all Jen, but this plan seems to be the best chance to keep her safe.
“Thanks.” I whisper to her since I am officially trying to be sneaky and you don’t yell in these situations.
I decide that here and now would also be a good time to reset my home bind point. If things don’t work out the way I expect them to and I have to gate out of someplace, I do not want to end up back in my apartment where they would know where to find me. I just wish that I had thought to do it sooner. Like maybe back at the mall, someplace more public and easier to get lost in.
Finally, I activate my Unholy Armor buff to provide me with some protection. It won’t stop a bullet, but it should help if the cops get a little rough in their handling of me. Plus, if things really go to hell, I will be ready for it and now that I know what I can do; I will be able to handle things better and maybe not kill anyone in the process.
My little mini-freakout, plus my prep work gives me time to reconsider my plan. Is hiding out in a drainage culvert and having Jen call the police hotline from a pay phone the best option?
It would probably look better if I was able to walk into a police station and officially turn myself in, but there is no way that I could do that without getting Jen involved and I do not want to risk getting her hurt. The hiding out and getting found by the police isn’t a bad plan, but it might work out better if Jen drove me to a station so that I can turn myself in. That way, when the police to decide to look at the ex-girlfriend or if we missed something back at my apartment; she won’t have to lie too much about her role in helping me evade justice.
Jen will honestly be able claim that she helped me, but only so that she could talk me into turning myself in and keep anyone else from getting hurt. The police might be a little suspicious of her, but they probably won’t dig too hard or apply a lot of pressure on her when they have most of the answers standing right in front of them. Me.
I surprise Jen when I jump back into her car and duck down and into the front passenger well to avoid being spotted by other motorists. “Jen, different plan. Drive me to the police station near your apartment and I will turn myself in there.” I say.
Jen looks a little skeptical, but she shrugs her shoulders. “Okkaayy...” She says, but she does put her car back into gear and drives away from the area.
I feel the car bump once as we exit the parking lot and turn onto the main road. Jen glances down at me. “Okay, what’s this new plan of yours?” She asks.
It takes a little work and her questions force me to really think and plan hard, but in the end; I think that we both end up with a better plan. Her mind is definitely twisty because she is the one who comes up with what we will both tell to the police. She is positive that they will question us separately and it will be critical that our stories match. It will also be critical that we trust each other to not fold under pressure and rat the other out. The old prisoner’s dilemma trick.
Jen finally nods her acceptance of my new plan. “Hmmm, I think that you are right, Ally. We didn't give the first plan enough thought, but I think that this one is much better. Besides, I won’t have to lie as much and it is less risky for both of us.”
Phew! I was getting worried there. “Now, like I said. There is no Allison or Ally. My Light Aspect doesn’t exist and you never saw me transform into her. If anyone manages to remember us from the mall, we are screwed. So, we need to do whatever we can to make sure that you don’t end up on TV. I have to be Valerie from now on and maybe forever. Okay?” I ask and I feel a lump start to form in my throat as my post change surge of concerns start to hit home for me again. I like being Ally. I like being a High Elf and being able to walk around in public and feel normal. But most of all, I love being Jen’s girlfriend.
“Okay...” Jen says, softly and also with some regret in her voice.
A few minutes later, she looks down at me. “We are here...” She says as she carefully drives her car and parks in what I assume is a guest spot near the front of the station.
I try to sigh to help calm my nerves, but it comes out as a shudder as tears threaten to spill from my eyes. I watch as Jen silently sits, staring out of her windshield and gripping the steering wheel of her car with frustration as she digs up the willpower to do what we agreed for her to do.
“Jen? You have to do this. It will work out in the end. Trust me.” I softly whisper while I pray silently to myself that it will work out..
Jen sighs heavily. Then, she leans down and gives me a quick kiss on my lips that almost makes me change my mind. “I love you...” She says as she pulls back with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She steadies her resolve, then without another glance at me, she opens her door and gets out of her car.
“Sir?” She yells at someone with a wave to help get their attention.
“Yes? Can I help you ma’am?” I hear a man’s voice ask Jen and approach the car.
“Yes, please. I have a friend that did something bad and she wants to turn herself in so that no one else gets hurt.” Jen says.
I take that as my cue to make myself seen.
“Holy shit!” The police officer yells as he scrambles to pull out his pistol.
“No!” Jen screams in panic.
I toss my fake gun on the ground in front of me and calmly raise my hands in the air before he gets too far with his pulling his weapon out action. My painfully obvious surrender and lack of resistance doesn’t slow him down in the slightest.
“Down! On the ground now!” The officer yells as he glances desperately around for other officers to back him up.
As directed, I lower myself to the ground while his weapon tracks me the entire time. It isn’t until I am on the ground and on my stomach that he reaches for the mic on his lapel and calls for help. Things get a little tense pretty damn fast after that and the lucky officer that I surrendered myself to, Officer Daniels, is a touch rough with me. He digs his knee into my back just a little bit too forcefully when he forces my unresisting hands behind my back to handcuff me.
That makes me glad that I thought to activate my armor buff because even though I am face down and have mostly naked skin touching the pavement, it feels like I have a thick leather jacket and pants protecting my skin from scratches. Jen is crying hysterically with worry for me, but the officers seem to view her more as a terrorized victim than an accomplice because they keep trying to comfort her and tell her that she is safe now.
Then, a female officer arrives and takes charge of Jen. I am not really paying any attention to what the overeager officers are saying to me as they manhandle me and search for additional weapons. I would laugh, but that might make them even more upset with me because really, where would I hide a weapon in this costume?
No, I am focusing all of my attention on what is happening to Jen because if there is even a hint that they are going to try and hurt her; I will go ballistic. I watch as the female officer gently and carefully leads Jen away while repeating that she is safe now. It’s all over and I can’t hurt her. That, more than anything else is a relief for me because it looks like she will be okay.
I lose track of Jen when Officer Daniels and some other burly police officer roughly lift me off the ground by my arms without any concern that it might hurt me to have the cuffs dig into my wrists or that it might hurt my shoulder joints. I am on my feet, but it doesn’t seem to matter because they don’t let me walk into the station under my own power. Instead, they bodily drag me as I scramble to keep my feet under me. It freaking hurts to be dragged around like that, but they don’t seem to care about how I might feel. I am pretty sure that they know it hurts, but it makes them feel tough and in charge. It almost makes me want to fry their asses to teach them a lesson, but I restrain myself because it would only make things worse.
They are directed to take me straight to an interrogation room and it turns out to look just like the ones on TV. It has the simple metal table that is bolted to the floor with the matching sturdy and uncomfortable metal chair for the condemned to be shackled to. There are two additional chairs and they look much more comfortable, but they are on the other side of the table. So, I know who those chairs are for. There is also the standard one way mirror along one of the walls to allow other people to witness an interrogation without the suspect knowing who is watching.
As they push me into the uncomfortable chair, I notice that the table has a sturdy looking eyebolt built into it to allow the condemned to sit in what might be a more comfortable manner with their hands locked in front of them and to the table instead behind them and to the chair. However, instead of removing my handcuffs so that they can re-attach one of them to the eyebolt built into the table, they just use a second pair of handcuffs to loop around my handcuffs and lock me onto the chair with my hands still behind my back. So rude and I can’t stop myself from glaring at them when they happily wave goodbye to me as they exit the room; leaving me locked uncomfortably to the chair and alone in the room.
After about five minutes, the chair really starts to get uncomfortable and try to find a more comfortable position. There isn’t one. After what feels like ten minutes, I start to get cold. The room is air conditioned and I am not wearing the proper amount of clothes. The armor buff does not provide any insulation or protection from the heat or the cold.
I debate trying to use my Break free ability to see if it will free me from the handcuffs, but I am pretty sure that they are watching me and I don’t want to give that ability away right now. They need to feel confident that I am securely under their control. That doesn’t mean that I can’t voice my complaints though.
“Hey! It’s a little cold in here! Can you at least send someone in with a blanket; turn up the heat or something?” I yell at the mirror.
It doesn’t take too long after that before two plains clothed male officers enter the room together. They both seem relaxed as they both pause and take a lazy sip from what appears to be a steaming cup of coffee. Their charade is ruined for me when I notice that the dude on the left isn’t armed. I notice that when he lifts his arm to exaggerate how delicious, warm and refreshing his coffee tastes and the front of his jacket flaps open enough for me to catch a glimpse of his shoulder holster. His empty shoulder holster. Yeah, they are nowhere near feeling relaxed about me. I bet that they had to give up their weapons in case I somehow break free to prevent me from gaining control of their weapons, but I pretend not to notice that little detail.
“Mystique?” Cop on the Left asks.
“I’m not Mystique.” I say, but he doesn’t listen.
“Hi, I’m Detective Olson and this is my partner Detective Roberts.” Detective Olson gestures to a glowering Detective Roberts. “Sorry about the wait, we were both a little busy trying to get things organized.”
Detective Roberts says nothing as he lowers himself into his chair and glares at me.
Detective Olson smiles at me and places his hand on his partner’s shoulder as if to try and calm him down. “Jack, I know that you are anxious to hear her story, but how about if you wait a bit before we start asking her questions. I am sure that she is cold and if she is willing to cooperate with us, maybe I could grab her a coat or something warm for her to drink from down the hall?” He says while pretending to look concerned for me.
Seriously? Are they really going to try the old “good cop/bad cop” thing on me? Don’t they know that I am not really as young as I look? Well, okay. I guess if that is how little they think of me, then who am I to complain? I smile with appreciation at Detective Olson. “Please? I’ll be good. Can you at least move my cuffs to the table? My arms are really starting to hurt.” I say.
Detective Olson pretends to look both surprised and outraged by that. “They left your hands cuffed to the back of the chair?” He asks as he makes a show of walking over to the door, knocking on it and then when it opens, sticking his head out and yelling down the hall for the keys to my cuffs.
His concern for my comfort is ruined by the fact that I know that he has a key that will unlock my cuffs sitting in his pocket. Police handcuffs all use the same key to allow for officers to easily restrain suspects without having worry about who might have a key when it comes time to free a suspect. None the less, my buddy Officer Daniels hustles into the room and tries to look apologetic to the detectives as he unlocks the cuff on my left wrist and relocks it to the eyebolt on the table, leaving my left hand free and my right hand locked to the table. That is infinitely more comfortable.
Before Officer Daniels can leave the room, the Detective Olson orders him to get and bring me back a cup of coffee. Finally, He turns back to me with a smile while Detective Roberts pretends to look annoyed by how easy his partner is going on me.
“Damn it Mark! She has a hand free now. How much more time do you intend to waste here? Do you really need to let her have a cup of coffee too? Are you forgetting that she is directly responsible for the death of those two officers in San Francisco and that the longer it takes to question her, the more time her partners have to get away with all the money they stole from the bank?” Detective Roberts asks.
Regardless of Detective Roberts’ objections to my “easy” treatment by Good Cop, they still let me sip some mostly warm coffee from a very small cup. Definitely not enough liquid to use as a weapon, even if the liquid was hot enough to burn.
“Damn it Mystique!” Detective Roberts slams his hand down on the table to get my attention. I oblige him by flinching and sending a pleading look towards Detective Olson. “Tell us how you met the Riddler and what the plan was?” Detective Roberts snarls at me.
I don’t bother trying to correct him about my name. Instead, I try to tell him that I didn’t meet the Riddler until he assaulted the convention and that I was just at the convention for the costume contest, but Detective Roberts doesn’t believe me and he doesn’t want to believe me while Detective Olson pretends to believe me, but I know that he doesn’t believe me. They both end up alternating between badgering me, bullying me and pretending to be nice to me. They also try to tell me that if I tell them what they need to know, that they will help me by requesting that I be charged with a lesser offence or even some immunity from prosecution an effort to get me to “crack” and “spill the beans” about my role in the plot, but I stick to my story about the costume contest and that pisses them both off.
Amazingly, not once do they ask how I escaped and managed to get to Virginia from California and nor do they ask me about Jen, Kristin, Amber the Costume Goddess or the VA Hospital. That, more than anything else, tells me that they really don’t believe me and never will believe me when I try to tell them the truth. So, there really is no point in trying any longer. Besides, they still haven’t even bothered to read me my rights or even offer me a lawyer, so nothing I am saying is even admissible in court anyway. Not that I really expect much help in that area either. They can always claim that they read me my rights. Who will the judge believe me or the sworn officers of the law? In the eyes of these officers, I am already guilty.
I decide to sit back and not say anything else to the pair. Maybe they will get bored and put me in a real cell, with a real bed and a blanket, along with a prison jumpsuit so that I can feel a little less naked and cold. A knock at the door surprises me and I glance at the door to see who might be knocking. Maybe it will be a lawyer for me or even better, someone who can end this farce and lock me up in a cell so I can get some sleep. Now that I am back to being a Dark Elf, I am feeling a little tired.
Detective Olson is not happy with me and he is not happy with the interruption. “Damn it, Mystique!”
“I’m not Mystique...”
Again, he ignores me as he stands and walks over to the door. “When I get back, you better fucking tell me what I need to know!” He says as he glances back and angrily points at me.
I think that my buddy, Detective Olson, has forgotten that he is supposed to be the Good Cop here. Since the door is controlled from the outside, he taps impatiently on the door to signal that he is ready for it to be opened. As soon as it opens a crack, he steps partially out the door. “Who in the fuck is interrupting ‘my’ interrogation?” He says.
I can’t make out a reply, but his body language tells me that whoever he just yelled at isn’t who he expected. Detective Olson stiffens into a stance of attention. “Sorry sir! I didn’t mean to yell at you sir! Of course, sir. Roberts and I will leave immediately, sir.”
I glance over at Detective Roberts and he looks as mystified as I feel. “Good luck kid.” He softly says to me as he lazily slides his chair back and exits the room.
I guess that he is really the “Good Cop”. I hear his footsteps fade away down the hallway, followed by a buzz and another heavy door opening and closing behind him. The door to my room remains open for a surprisingly long time before I hear anyone open the outer door and head down the hallway towards my room.
I am starting to get worried that maybe this is another trick to get me to try something when two older men wearing suits that just scream, “Federal Agent” to me, enter the room. Followed by two younger looking Federal Agent types who stand guard at the door, but make no move to close the door. On the contrary, they appear to be there to keep the door open.
“Hello, Miss Wilson. I am Special Agent King Faraday, DHS and this gentleman with me is Special Agent Michael Brown, FBI Metahuman Crime Taskforce.”
“Sorry if I don’t get up and offer to shake your hand, but I am a little tied up right now.” I say as I rattle my cuffs for emphasis.
It looks like a smirk flashes across their faces. I am not sure, but my smart ass comment seems to amuse them. Good, unlike my previous interrogators, these guys seem to have a sense of humor.
“Is there anything that we can get you?” Special Agent Faraday asks.
I glance down at my skimpy costume and naked legs. “A blanket or some sweatpants. Hell, even a nice prison orange jumpsuit would be swell right about now.”
“Sorry, but we have a flight to catch...” He glances at his watch. “...in 45 minutes. You are being extradited back to California, but we have your suitcase on the plane. Would that help?” Special Agent Faraday asks.
Is he for real? Is this a new interrogation tactic? I glance to the FBI agent to see if his expression betrays anything. It doesn’t. He looks serious too. “Ummm, I guess so, but what about the police here?” I ask.
“They have been informed that we are taking over this case for them.” Faraday says like it is nothing.
“What about Jennifer?” I ask.
“She gave her statement and the police are in the process of releasing her even as we speak.”
“Is she going to be charged with anything?”
Faraday focuses on my face. “No. She’s a heroine for bringing you in, right?”
“Yes. Can you make sure that the papers and the TV reporters don’t find out about her? I don’t want her to get harassed.”
“I think that we can arrange for her role in your apprehension to be hidden. Is there anything else?”
I know that it was in the news, but I have to ask anyway. “Umm, yes. Are Agent Rollins and Agent Thompson okay?”
Faraday’s expression hardens into anger. “No.”
“Anyone else get hurt?”
“One security guard and a nurse were killed. Two others in critical condition with another expected to be released tomorrow. Thanks for asking.” He says with a quick glance at his watch.
I want to ask if he knows why they came after me, but he looks a bit impatient to leave. There is one more thing I do need to know though.
“The cops, umm, officers at the convention. Did I really kill them like the police here are saying?”
Both Faraday and Brown shake their heads no. “No, but the first one that you drained with your power is in critical condition still.” Faraday says with a frown.
I feel a huge sense of relief flood through me. I was so worried, but he did say the one guy in still in critical condition. That sobers me quick. “Oh, okay. Thanks.” I say.
Faraday nods. “Well, we still have that plane to catch. We can talk more during the flight. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, but...” I rattle the cuffs again. “...unless you have a key, you will need someone to get me out of these things.”
Faraday smiles patiently at me. “I have been doing a little research on that Dragon’s Bane game and your character class in particular, which will be something we will need to further discuss during the flight. But, in the meantime, why don’t you just save us some time and get rid of the cuffs yourself?”
Damn, he is a little scary. I debate trying to fake him out, but I think that if I try my Break free power, and it works; then they might believe me more when I tell them that I can’t get my Aspect change to work. With that in mind, I dip my chin in acknowledgement and activate my escape power. The cuff holding my right hand pops open and falls off my wrist. Then, I simply stand up and smile at the agents because it looks like I surprised everyone except for Special Agent Faraday.
“Good, we will grab a fresh to-go cup of coffee for you on the way out. However...” Faraday reaches into a pocket and pulls out a pair of handcuffs.
At the sight of the handcuffs, my heart catches in my throat and I start to feel angry. I was just starting to trust him and even worse, I wanted to trust him. Why did he trick me into revealing my escape power? He had to know that it has a three minute cool down timer before I can re-use it to escape again. This is so fucking frustrating and to make matters worse, my eyes start to sting as tears build up inside them. I don’t know whether to go ballistic or to give up and cry, and it is the “cry” option that worries me the most.
Why would I even consider that an option?
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. White Queen, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note:Well, this one took some time. Sorry. I have been pretty darn busy over the last few weeks. Chapter 12 is 99% +/- 10% done, but I want to let it simmer and based upon feedback to this chapter; make fixes. Here it is, enjoy! Please. Special thanks to my editors for helping to keep me on track, mostly. Hehe. Thanks to djkauf for editing.
“Whoa there.” Special Agent Faraday motions for me to calm down. “I’m sorry, Valerie. I know what it must look like, but I have to cuff you until I can get you into the car and out of sight.” He points in the general direction of outside. “If we lead you out of here without being cuffed, the waiting press would have a field day.”
His explanation goes a long way to calm me down. I don’t know why my emotions are so close to the surface and volatile. Okay, well, I guess I do know, but I always thought that women were just more emotional because they wanted to be or because a man, not me, was being an asshole. Still, I don’t like having to wear cuffs again, but in all honesty, I expected worse. He has been nothing but professional to me. “Okay, sorry...” I say, feeling slightly ashamed as I turn around so that he can cuff my hands behind my back.
Faraday surprises me with a gentle touch on my shoulder, directing me to turn back to face him. “I think we can forgo that discomfort, don’t you?” He asks as he motions for me to put my hands in front of me.
“Now, do you like cream and sugar with your coffee?” Faraday asks, looking down at me with confusing blend of humor, steel and compassion as he snaps his cuffs to my wrists.
I blink with confusion. “Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t tried any coffee since I changed, but I used to drink it black.”
I warm up pretty fast after they lead me out of the room. They must keep the interrogation rooms extra cold just to mess with people and put them more on edge. I catch a glimpse of Jen on my way towards the back of the station. She spots me and she stays true to the plan by pretending to be scared of me. I know that she is only acting, but it still hurts a little because I know that is how most people will react to me in the future. I am different and I am scary looking. The female officer helping her, glances at me and scowls with disapproval before she turns back and comforts Jen.
Special Agent-in-Charge Brown drapes an FBI jacket over my head, and then, he and Faraday hustles me through the gauntlet of reporters and toward the standard black SUV. I am grateful for the jacket because all the flashbulbs going off would have blinded me.
“Mystique! Now that you have been captured, what are your plans?!”
“Mystique! Mystique! Over here! Will your henchmen bust you out of jail?”
“Mystique! Are you going to get revenge for being double crossed?”
“Will you accept the offer to model for Playboy and who will you pretend to be!?”
“Mystique! What about...”
Thankfully, the last question is cut off by the SUV door closing. Playboy?!?! Really? That might be kind of, no wait, what am I thinking? I only read that magazine for the articles, honest. I am distracted from that line of thought when Faraday hands me a steaming cup of coffee. The taste is a little bitterer than I remember, but I savor the warmth as I cautiously sip from it.
During the ride to the airstrip, I am grateful for the FBI jacket since my costume is rather revealing and not at all warm. Initially, the cuffs make things a bit difficult, but true to his word, Faraday motions for one of the agents in the back with me to remove my cuffs. Following a script that could be from Hollywood, we pull into a hangar where a private jet is waiting with its door ramp down. The jet’s engines start to spool up as soon as the SUV’s doors open.
I am escorted into the waiting jet and Faraday gestures for me take a seat in a row of seats that has a small table between them, like a small work table. He takes the seat opposite of me and as I buckle in, I decide that a private jet is way more comfortable than flying coach. For one, the seats are leather and as a result, much more comfortable.
The takeoff is uneventful, but that is how they are supposed to go. It is still a little unnerving though. A private jet is much smaller and more fragile feeling compared to a large commercial jet. It probably would be more exciting if I wasn’t a prisoner though. I always imagined myself on a private jet sipping champagne and hanging with my pal Milla. Reality is not nearly as cool.
As soon as we level off, a young and pretty female flight attendant cheerfully offers everyone their choice of coffee, soda or water. However; for me, she purses her lips in anger. “Can I get you something, ma’am?” She asks, brusquely.
I wouldn’t mind some water or better yet, a nice rare steak, but hell if I am going to let her serve me. She might spit in it or something. I guess that I should not be surprised by her behavior, but it still catches me off guard. I glance up at her and read her name badge. “No thanks, Heather, but thanks for asking.” I say, smiling in an effort to kill her with kindness.
That works. She takes a half step back and glances nervously to Faraday. “Water, please.” He says.
Heather nods and rushes off to the front of the plane.
“Yes, she was rude and I could see that you were trying, but you need to ease up on the fear aura.” Faraday says, reproachfully.
“My what?” I ask, dumbfounded by his accusation. I have no idea why some people are afraid of me. I thought it was due to my weird looks. It can’t be due to something that I am doing, can it?
Faraday looks at me like he is trying to figure out if I am trying to make a joke. “Valerie...”
I feel a twinge of identity confusion when he calls me Valerie. I felt comfortable as Ally.
He reaches into his briefcase and pulls out a plain manila folder with Valerie ‘Mystique’ Wilson printed on it. Opening it, he surprises me when he pulls out a copy of the DBO game manual. “I guess that it is possible for you not to know, but according to the game manual; certain members of the dark elf race had a built in fear power or aura as they called it.”
I know that Dr. Random said the 4th World history was surprisingly accurate, but the manual can’t be that accurate, can it? “Umm, I have a fear power or spell or whatever it is that I can cast. Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Are you casting or using that?”
“No? Not that I am aware of anyway...” I say as I scramble to recall if maybe I am casting something. If I am somehow casting the single target fear, that would certainly explain a lot of the strange reactions that I have received. I think back and recall all the times when someone appeared to be more scared of me than they should have been. Although, I think that if I did cast my fear spell, the target would run away from me screaming in terror, not just act a little scared.
“Hmmm, maybe that is true. I have had some people act a little scared of me. It was only when I was mad or irritated with them. Ummm, certain members?” I ask as I recall the little caveat with his explanation.
Faraday smiles and sits back in his chair. “Yes, members of the royal family...”
I feel my jaw hit the table with shock. Me? Royal? No way!
“...but occasionally people who had the favor of Liloth, the evil goddess of the Dark Elf race, were able to use the fear aura power. Didn’t you read this to play the game?” Faraday asks with a trace of accusation as he holds up the manual.
“Umm, no? No one that I know reads the history of the game world. We just read enough of the manual to get started with playing the game. The more that you have to read the manual, the worse the game is.” I say.
He looks at the DBO manual and shrugs his shoulders. “I guess that makes sense.”
I am a little surprised about the royal thing, but it is not like being a royal dark elf would get me anything extra these days anyway. Finding out that I am a princess would be all that I need right now. Some dark elf prince would just want to marry me and make me have his babies or something else domestic and royal like. Do your part and save an extinct species. I shiver at that prospect.
“Anyway, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me if I do have a fear aura thing, but if I do, I have no idea on how to control it.” I pause and sit back into my seat. “Well, maybe I could work on controlling my temper a bit more. That might be it, but I am not sure how that will go since I am still getting used all of this.” I say as I gesture to my body with frustration. My bare, blue and silky smooth legs are so much more distracting than my normal colored and silky smooth high elf legs. That is kind of funny.
“Normal colored and silky smooth high elf legs?”
Really, those are normal? Normal would be my standard issue, Caucasian flesh tone, large and hairy man legs that I was perfectly happy to call my very own up until last week. Heather causes me to pause in my body image issues when she returns with Faraday’s bottle of water. She glances nervously at me before returning back to her station at the front of the plane.
“Do you want it?” Faraday asks, glancing down at the unopened bottle.
That surprises me, but also makes me suspicious. How did he know? Well, I doubt that they spiked it with something. “Umm, sure. Thanks.” I say as I lean forward and take the offered bottle.
Faraday studies me as I take a few sips and his scrutiny of me makes me feel a little self conscious. That causes me to reflexively pull the FBI jacket a little tighter around my shoulders and attempt to cover my exposed thighs as well. I know exactly what I would I would have been thinking about if our roles were reversed. “Wow, look at those legs! She’s a total babe. I wonder what her boobs look like.” Okay, maybe Faraday isn’t really thinking that, but he is still a guy, lucky bastard.
“So, any ideas on who tried to kill me at the VA Hospital?” I ask in an attempt to distract myself and Faraday.
Faraday glances to Brown. “Capture, not kill and no leads on the who, but we have a possible why.” Brown says with a frustrated sigh.
“Oh?” I ask.
From the same folder that Faraday had the DBO manual, Brown pulls out a piece of paper with a web page printed on it. “We were able to question one of the surviving attackers, but it took finding this online auction listing to really give us the clues we needed.” Brown says as he slides the page to me.
It is print out of an auction for an ounce of “Genuine Dark Elf Blood” and at the time the page was printed, the current winning bid on the page was $50k.
“Seriously?!?” I ask, glancing down at the fine darker blue vein in my arm with wonder. I could retire on that kind of cash and it would only take me pulling out an ounce or two of my blood once a year.
I look back up at Brown. “Why is my blood so valuable?”
He looks a little embarrassed as he glances down at the DBO manual. “Well, when we spoke with some of our magic experts, they once again referred us to the game manual. It seems that the history written in the DBO manual is surprisingly accurate.”
“Yes, Dr. Random surprised me with that news too, but?” I ask.
“Well, after the light races banded together and wiped out the Dark Elves during the 4th Age of Magic, it was discovered that Dark Elf blood and some of their organs were essential for a few powerful rituals. So, when you manifested and a sample of your blood made its way out of the hospital, some magic practitioners got a little excited.”
“Oh, that’s not good.”
“No, it’s not and the FBI is working with the hospital to investigate the breach.” Brown says, looking a little upset about it.
“What about the people at the VA hospital? Are Agents Rollins and Thompson dead?” I ask.
Faraday sighs. “Thompson is in critical condition...”
“Rollins?” I ask, softly.
Faraday shakes his head and closes his eyes for a second.
“I might be able to help Thompson.” I say, causing both of the men to sit up with attention.
“How?” Faraday asks.
“Well, if real life works like it does in the game, I think that I can transfer some of my health to another and heal them that way. I just need something to drain after that to recover my health.” I say as I recall how I could do some emergency healing in DBO.
“What would you need?” Faraday asks suspiciously as he leans forward.
I am pretty sure that he thinks that I need another person, but in game I could take health from any NPC, be that a critter, monster or undead. “Well, I am not sure. A rabbit might work, but rabbits probably don’t have a lot of health to take. Maybe a cow or two or three? I really don’t know...” I say, shrugging my shoulders apologetically.
Faraday sits back and appears to think it over as Brown looks at me with an expression that is hard for me to read. “Hmmm, are you sure that you can’t change into your character’s Life Aspect mode?”
It helps that I expected this question. I shake my head slowly from side to side and frown. “Believe me, I have tried, but nothing works. Do you think that I would look like this...” I gesture back to my blue body. “....if I didn’t have to?” I almost break down and cry. I feel the tears trying to burst out. I feel so trapped in this body and even more so now that I really am trapped. I am trapped by my own cynical distrust of humanity.
Faraday moves over, takes the unoccupied aisle seat next to me and with a surprising display of concern, he looks me directly in the eyes. “Thank you for your offer, Valerie. I will give it some thought, make a few calls and see if we can arrange a test when we arrive in Los Angeles, okay?”
I nod my head once. “Okay...” I say, softly as I study his face for any hint of suspicion that he isn’t buying my Life Aspect story. I find his gaze more intense than I, in my reduced stature, am able to comfortably maintain. I use the need for a napkin to blot my eyes as an excuse to turn away from him. If I was still a guy, I would have totally lost the staring contest. Except, I am not sure if it was a staring contest.
“Let me get something for you.” Faraday says as he moves to the front of the plane. From a small closet, he extracts a small blue gym bag and carries it back to me. He sets it on the table in front of me and gestures for me to open it.
Curious, I zip it open and find some clothes. I pull out a pair of dark blue sweats with a yellow FBI logo on the hooded top, a plain white bra and panty set, ankle socks, white sneakers and a blue FBI logo girl baby doll style t-shirt. I only know that it is called a baby doll style t-shirt due to the t-shirt that Kim bought me. The one that said “Keep out of direct sunlight!” and thinking about that shirt makes me miss Kim.
I am a little impressed by the fact that all of the clothes appear to be in my size. I also find a travel kit consisting of a small toothpaste tube, toothbrush, floss, pink deodorant, *sigh*, a brush, assortment of hair bands and last but not least, a small box of panty liners. That last girl bomb, I leave alone for now. The bra and panty set plus the floral scented girl deodorant is enough of a reminder, thank you very much.
“Can I go change?” I ask, eager to get out of my Mystique costume. Maybe if I am out of it, people will stop calling me Mystique.
Faraday glances to Brown, who nods his approval. I am not sure who is in charge here, but I guess the FBI is more in charge and the clothes do have the FBI logo. Maybe I need permission to wear them from an FBI agent.
I grab the bag and then, I look around for the bathroom. Faraday helpfully points to the rear of the plane. “Thanks.” I say with a smile as I make my way to the lavatory.
I only make it two steps before I remember that the damn zipper on this costume is stuck. Ashamed, I turn back to Faraday. “Umm, the zipper is stuck. Would you mind?” I ask as I turn my back to him and hang my head down with embarrassment. I am supposed to be the one to help a woman out of her dress, not be the one being helped.
Faraday chuckles. “Sure.” He says as I feel his fingers gently work the zipper loose and halfway down my spine before stopping. He uses one of his fingers on the inside of the zipper to keep the zipper from snagging on my skin and his light touch against my skin causes me to shiver once. He stops about halfway down my back and I am pretty sure that if he went any further, the bleeping costume would fall off on its own. I use my free hand to hold the front of the costume securely to my chest as I make my way to the lavatory.
The jet’s lavatory proves to be just as tiny as a commercial jet’s lavatory. There is no counter space, so I end up setting my bag down in the sink. Next, I close and lock the door and with that done, I feel private enough to remove my costume. There is one advantage to wearing a dress; it proves far easier to undress in the claustrophobically tiny lavatory.
Fresh panties feel both comforting and strange as I snug them against my smoother undercarriage. The strange part fades after a few seconds; leaving just the comfortable feeling in its wake. There is absolutely no way that I will ever admit that it is actually more comfortable not having to constantly adjust all my junk down there. Nope, no way, no how, because you know, I had a lot or so all the ladies told me.
I kill myself.
The bra and adjustment of my new protuberances more than make up for the lack of junk comfort factor. Breasts are such a pain to own, but at the same time, they are also kind of nice. I am undecided on them at the moment because I can’t stop from admiring myself in the mirror. That makes me realize that I am being a narcissist and that I am turning myself on as my nipples begin to harden and my insides start to feel pleasantly warm. That causes me to yearn for Jen’s touch, and that thought, plus the realization that my fingers are gently rubbing against my pantie enclosed crotch snaps me back to reality.
Embarrassed, I quickly pull the sweatpants over my hips, apply some of the floral scented girl deodorant, and follow that with the baby doll thing, and finally, the socks and sneakers. I double check my hair and still feeling a little warm, I splash some cool water against my face. I am mostly satisfied with my appearance and the lack of visible nippage showing through my t-shirt and bra, but I decide to wear the sweatshirt too. Just in case I am showing and heck, I am a girl now. I might get cold or something. I finish by brushing my teeth and then, I pack my costume into the bag and exit the lavatory.
Well, that was my plan, but then I realize that I need to pee and there is a dude patiently waiting outside the lavatory. “Umm, sorry. I gotta pee now too. Are you?” I ask, feeling super embarrassed for hogging the bathroom for so long.
He chuckles at me. “Oh, no. I’m fine. Go ahead.”
“Thanks.” I say, smiling at him with appreciation.
I silently curse the no aiming cowboy who last used the toilet in here. No one’s aim is that good.
Lift the f’ing seat you short dicked bastard!
Sorry about that, but wiping down the seat just to go pee is so frustrating. With the wiping, plus the wiping with the extra washing of hands; I finally surrender the lavatory to the waiting dude. “Sorry. I had to clean the seat. Someone thought they could aim.” I say with a grin as I hold the door open. I feel much better now that I had the chance to vent.
The agent smiles at me and makes a point of lifting the seat before closing the door behind him. That gesture plus the addition of wearing real clothes makes me feel far happier than I should, considering my current circumstances. Regardless, I smile gratefully at Faraday as I rejoin him and Brown at our seats. “So much better! Thanks, but what do you want me to do with my costume?” I ask as I set the gym bag with my costume on the table.
Faraday glances over to Brown. “Do you need to bag the costume as evidence?” He asks.
Brown nods his head. “Yes sir. The judge will probably want to see it, along with the fake weapon during the trial.” He looks over his shoulder at one of the other agents. “Roscoe, can you grab an evidence bag and add her costume to it, please?”
The agent quickly has my costume bagged, tagged and placed into a large black canvas bag that also has my fake weapon in it. I almost regret giving up the costume now, but only almost, because it sure has caused me a ton of problems.
That thought causes me to lean back in my seat and wrap the jacket around me even tighter as I gaze listlessly out the cabin window. It is only a little after 4pm, but now that I am back to being a nocturnal Dark Elf; it doesn’t take long before I feel my eyes fighting to stay open.
I look back to Faraday and Brown. “I am crashing here. Do you guys need anything?” I ask.
They both look at each other and shrug. “No, but we will need to go over a few things before we land. We still have another five or six hours. I will wake you when we are an hour out. Okay?” Faraday asks.
Before I can reply, I have to fight off a huge yawn, but it escapes just as I politely cover my mouth. “Sorry, yes, that is fine with me. I’m the prisoner here, not you.” I say with a tired smirk that earns me grin in reply from Faraday. With that, I give up fighting my need for sleep. I kick off my sneakers, tuck my feet into the seat and taking advantage of my reduced stature and flexibility, I quickly fall asleep curled up in the seat.
I wake on my own and find that someone wedged a pillow under my head. The cabin lights are off and the window shutters are closed where I am resting while Faraday and Brown are at the other well lit table poring over some documents. Brown has a cell phone next to his ear and he appears to be listening to it. I hope that the FAA does not find out about that.
I decide to brave the lavatory again. Well, I don’t decide, my bladder does that for me. I guess that I drank too much water and coffee. Wonder of all wonders, the seat isn’t splattered with pee this time. I still wipe it off though. I doubt that I will ever get used to this sitting requirement.
As I exit the lavatory, Faraday motions me over to their table. “What’s up?” I ask.
“I am glad that you’re awake.” Faraday motions for me to join them at the table. “Special Agent-in-Charge Brown and I have been speaking with the Justice Department, the LA County DA plus our respective bosses and here is what you are facing when we land. Are you ready?”
That doesn’t sound good. “Umm, sure?” I say hesitantly.
“We got the DA to drop the Grand Larceny, Making a Terroristic Threat and Resisting Arrest charges, but you are still facing two attempted murder charges and assault with a deadly weapon.”
“Oh...” I say as my stomach starts to feel queasy. On one hand, it sounds like they are dropping my involvement with the Riddler, but the two remaining charges don’t sound good. Attempted murder is still some serious jail time and not minimum security either.
Faraday holds up his hand. “But, I also mentioned that you might be able to use your powers to heal the two wounded police officers and if that is true, then the DA would be willing to work out a deal.”
“Okay, I’m game, but will they let me?” I ask.
Faraday and Brown glance at each other like they have some secret that they are keeping from me. “We have been given authorization for you to try healing Agent Thompson and try your resurrection spell on Agent Rollins. The outcome of those tests will determine whether or not you will be giving a shot with the two officers that you wounded.”
“Sounds good to me. When can we start?” I ask, eager to get this over with.
“As soon as we land, we will head over to the hospital that is treating Agent Thompson. Additionally, I have made arrangements with a local slaughter yard for five cows to be available to us.” Faraday says.
“And Agent Rollins?” I ask.
“He is in the morgue of the same hospital.” Faraday says.
“Great...anything else?” I ask.
“Jennifer Ittner?” Faraday asks.
I manage to not freak out by his question. “Yes? What about her?”
Faraday studies me with a stern expression. “Your ex-girlfriend is publishing an ‘exclusive’ story about you in tomorrow’s paper. What is going to be in that story?”
How did he find out about something like that and how did Jen get something together so quickly? “Umm, I’m not sure, exactly. I told her everything that happened and she said that maybe a good story about me would help with my public image.”
“Okay, then how about if you tell us what happened from the start of the abduction attempt until you turned yourself in?” Faraday asks as he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.
He is not happy with me. I repeat my story to them, almost verbatim and with minimal interruptions. They both ask me a few extra questions regarding the attackers, but aside from that, my story is true until we get to the part where I found out that I could shift to Life Aspect mode. From there, I explain how Jen snuck me out of my apartment and how we hung out in the nearby state park until she talked me into turning myself in. I also express my displeasure with the cops at the local station.
“That is a very convincing story and it matches Miss Ittner’s version of the events. However; there are some holes in it...” Faraday says as he stares at me intently.
“Oh?” I ask as fear begins to set in. What if he finds out about my Life Aspect?
“Yes, we checked with the forest rangers and neither of you or Miss Ittner’s vehicle were spotted at the park today.”
“Oh, well, that was our goal. We didn’t see any rangers either.” I say smiling with satisfaction. I didn’t even have to lie with that statement.
Faraday leans back in his chair. “Something in your story isn’t adding up. I find it hard to believe that you could have gone without being spotted for as long as you and Miss Ittner claim. Are you sure that you can’t change?”
He is pretty smart and it makes me wonder if he will dig deeper and discover the truth. If he has already checked our alibi with the park rangers, it wouldn’t be that hard for him to find Jen’s credit card receipts for the day. “Tell me Mr. Faraday, you have researched DBO. You seem to have an idea what a Death Aspect and a Life Aspect cleric can do. Hypothetically speaking, let’s say that I figure out a way to change into my character’s Life Aspect mode.” I stop and look at him.
“Okaaay, hypothetically speaking...” Faraday says dubiously.
“What would happen to me if I could heal any injury or cure any disease? Maybe even resurrect the dead, walk on water and create food and water from thin air?” I ask, looking at him with a challenging glare.
He appears to ponder my question for a few seconds. “Well, you would be in pretty high demand. There are a lot of sick people in the world.”
I nod my head with agreement. “Yes, go on...” I say.
“Hmmm, you would probably need to be placed into protective custody...” He stops and I can see him working out the probable chain of events from there.
I lean forward and smile at him. “Yes, that would be the right thing to do. After all, people who are dying can be rather desperate, right? It would be in our government’s best interest and in our citizen’s best interest to keep me safe. Who would the government allow me to heal?”
“Why, the people with the greatest need, the sickest of the sick, of course.”
I smile with satisfaction at the direction this hypothetical exercise is going. “Excellent! That would be very helpful and I am sure that I would find that very rewarding, but what if the President or whatever of China or some other country that the U.S. is not happy with wants to be cured of some deadly disease?” I ask.
Both Faraday and Brown sit back with a concerned expression. “Yes, that or a similar issue could create some problems.” Faraday says after a moment of thought.
I choose to stay on the attack. “So, are either of you Christian, believe in Jesus?” I ask and they both nod their head. “How do you think the religious right and left and middle would feel about some miracle worker? What would they consider me? An angel, a demon or maybe even, the anti-Christ sent to earth to tempt the unfaithful? What about the other faiths of the world? How did those Crusades work out back in medieval times? How about the Salem witch trials or wait, even better, the Spanish Inquisition because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, right?”
I lean back in my chair as if to rest my case. “So, no, I cannot change and even if I could, I wouldn’t change.” I gesture down to my dark elf body before looking back to the two of them. “I will probably live for a very long time and I would rather rot in a jail for 20 or even 100 years as a convicted criminal instead of become a slave and a political tool to be used by corrupt officials because even a convicted criminal has a chance of parole, someday.”
Faraday does not say a word as he opens my file and begins to write. “Despite repeated attempts and expert magical investigation by Dr. Random, subject is unable to change into Life Aspect mode. It is this investigator's opinion that the subject’s manifested form is her only form. Signed...DHS Special Agent King Faraday.”
He hands the file over to Brown who also adds his signature to the statement. When he finishes he hands the document back to Faraday. Brown then looks back to me. “While I would like to think that our government would be able to arrive at a peaceful solution, I have spent a large part of the last few years investigating and preventing crimes in the post 9/11 world. I don’t even want to consider the public’s reaction if this possible power of yours proved to be true.”
The rest of the flight proves to be a somewhat somber affair. After that discussion, I do not feel the slightest urge to speak to anyone and both Faraday and Brown appear more than happy to bury themselves with paperwork. If nothing else, my existence and accidental crime spree has certainly seem to have generated a large amount of paper. Poor trees.
When we land, our plane is directed to pull into another empty hanger. They skip the cuffs for me this time and herd me into another black SUV. Did the government get a good deal on black SUV’s? I guess that ever since the OJ chase, white is out of favor with the government and black does look more impressive, or ominous. Take your pick.
Two additional black SUVs join us as I am driven directly to a hospital. I pull my sweatshirt hood over my head and try to keep a low profile. Faraday and Brown flank me and with a flash of badges, I am led past security and directly to the elevators. We are met on the fifth floor by a grim faced nurse who, without a word, leads us to a room.
Inside the large private room is an unhappy looking Special Agent Helligan, a somber Agent Fergusson, a hard to read Dr. Random and another man that looks like he could be a doctor. He is dressed like one and he also does not appear to be happy as he stands protectively next to the bed. “As this man’s physician, I must protest this, this thing...” He says, gesturing toward me with distaste. “Medical experiments with this man’s life have no place in this hospital!”
I ignore him and glance over to the person in the bed. Agent Thompson is the occupant and he does not look healthy. My DBO game senses kick in and I can feel exactly how weak he is. In game terms, he is down to 10% health and slowly fading. I am not sure how I know that he is fading, but I just do. Maybe that knowledge is just a part of my powers. Like how I could tell that the religious nut job was healthy, but had fewer health points than me.
They have two IV bags feeding stuff into his body and one of those bags appears to be blood. He must have some internal bleeding going on and the other bag is probably full of painkillers. Beats me though, I am not a doctor.
I look back to the doctor. “You have tried everything, yet he is still going to die. Internal bleeding, right?” I ask, softly as I pull off my sweatshirt and fully expose my face to him.
He glares at me with a mixture of frustration and pride before glancing over at the grim faced Faraday as if to ask him why he would have to answer to me. Faraday merely stares at him without emotion until the doctor loses the staring contest. Faraday is really good at those things.
“Yes...” He reluctantly acknowledges my question.
“When do you expect him to die? Less than 12 hours from now, right?” I ask, taking a slight guess based on what I can sense.
“Maybe...” The doctor whispers while shaking his head back and forth with denial.
“I owe Agent Thompson here my life. If there is something that I can do that might help him, I would like to try.” I say with tears threatening to spill from my eyes. Damn female hormones making me all mushy.
Almost imperceptibly, the doctor’s head nods his acceptance and takes a step away from his patient. I glance over at Dr. Random and he also nods his acceptance for what I am about to attempt. I detect a slight gleam in his eye. If I didn’t know better, I would say that he actually looks a little excited. Well, maybe he is, but he is the only one. Everyone else just looks grim. Agent Fergusson sneaks a wink of encouragement for me and that helps bolster my determination. His boss might hate me, but at least he is still friendly.
“Please Lord, let this work...” I mutter as I target Agent Thompson and cast my Vampiric Heal spell. A beam of pulsing green energy wrapped with inky black tendrils shoots out from my hand and latches onto Agent Thompson’s chest. I feel a tearing sensation and every cell of my body feels like it is being held over a low fire. It is painful for me, but not unbearably painful.
[20%]
I grimace with mild discomfort as Thompson’s health jumps up by 10% as my health drops by 2%. Well, that is somewhat reassuring because if it continues at that rate, I might be able to heal him 100% and only lose 18% of my health in the process. In the game, my Vampiric Heal is more of a Hail Mary, last ditch thing. It is designed to not be efficient on purpose; else there would be little reason to bring a real healer into a group. If I was using this against an equal level player, I might drain half of my health and only heal 20% of theirs. So, it is nice that Thompson is much lower level than I am. That fact makes my inefficient heal a bit more useful.
That thought makes me smile in spite of the discomfort as another second passes and his health goes up by another 10%. My discomfort seems to increase too, but I ignore it and force myself to continue with the spell. In the game it will last for 10 seconds or until I cancel it and I aim to heal Thompson until he is either 100% or I pass out from the pain.
Five seconds later, he is at 70% while I am down to 88% and the pain is definitely becoming harder for me to ignore. Now, it feels like that low fire has been given a few extra logs and it is really starting to burn bright. I feel warm tears start to stream down my face.
“Valerie?” I hear Agent Helligan say with concern. That surprises me, but I refuse to stop and give up now. Thompson’s health hits 90% and I feel my knees beginning to tremble. I accidently bite my own lip as I force myself to keep going.
[100%]
I cancel the spell and my knees give out, but someone, Faraday, grabs my arm and keeps me from falling. I pant as the pain begins to quickly recede. ln less than a second, the pain is merely a memory, but I still feel a little weak. My health is sitting at 82%, which shouldn’t be a problem. Hell, in a fight, if I have over 50% health, I consider myself in very good shape.
I look over at Agent Thompson and the doctor is scrambling to keep him from trying to sit up. He is awake and except for the bandages covering his chest, he looks perfectly healthy. Despite how I physically feel right now, I feel pretty damn happy with the outcome. It takes me a few more seconds before I feel strong enough to wave off Faraday’s assistance. As I glance around the room, I can’t help noticing how much more relaxed everyone is looking. I also can’t help noticing how healthy they all look to me. Healthy, like a nice and healthy juicy steak that makes your mouth water with anticipation because my mouth does start to water with anticipation.
“How are you feeling?” Faraday asks, sounding concerned about me.
“Umm, a little, umm, drained and hungry, but not hungry for food. Everyone here looks very healthy to me right now.” I say as a nervous giggle escapes from me. I close my eyes in an attempt to banish my vision.
“Are you going to be okay?” Faraday asks.
I open my eyes and look at his concerned face. “Umm, I think so. I just feel a little, jittery or something right now.” I take a deep breath to steady my nerves and I start to feel a little more relaxed.
“That was most impressive, Miss Wilson.” Dr. Random says with an appreciative smile.
“Oh, I guess so. That hurt a bit though. I’m not sure if that is the best way to go about helping someone.” I say.
“Impossible!” I hear the doctor say. I turn to look and he is inspecting Thompson’s bandages with stunned disbelief. There is blood on the bandages, but underneath, the skin is perfectly smooth and with only the faint trace of a long healed scar.
Thompson looks just as surprised as the doctor is. He is looks down at his chest and takes some deep breaths as if to confirm that he really can breathe. He smiles with satisfaction as he turns to look at me. “Valerie?”
I grin and wave at him. “Hey there. I came to return your magazine, but I left it in my room. Sorry.” I say.
“You did this?” He asks gesturing to his chest as he continues to try and sit up.
“Yeah and it hurt like a son of a bitch too. So, next time try remembering that incoming rounds have the right of way and, umm, duck or something.” I say with a smile.
He laughs. “Yeah, I’ll try to remember that. Thanks.” Thompson looks over at the doctor that is still trying to find something, anything wrong with his patient. “When can I get out of here?” He asks.
With that, I am ushered out of the room with Agent Ferguson lending me his arm so that I can walk without falling down. I feel more than strong enough to walk on my own, but I decide that I should act like it took a little more out of me than it really did. Yes, it sucked and I did feel pretty bad immediately after, but now all I feel is a little worn down and hungry. Hungry both for a nice rare steak and for the health since I cannot help but notice the healthy glow of everyone in my little entourage as well as the nurses and doctors that we pass in the hallway.
“How are ya feeling Val?” Agent Ferguson asks once the elevator doors close and we start to descend to the basement level.
“Umm, a little better now. Thanks for the assist. My legs still feel a little wobbly.” I say as I gratefully look up at him. It is so weird being so short and feeling so tiny now. Ferguson isn’t a mountain of a man, but he is still pretty big and he makes me feel just a little bit safer with him holding on to me. I almost let go of him with that realization, but that urge passes and is forgotten when the doors open to reveal the basement hallway that leads to the morgue.
I actually find myself clutching onto him a little bit tighter as I am lead to the room that contains Agent Rollin’s body. The doctor in charge of the morgue meets us at the doorway and wisely declines to protest my presence. I guess that he figures that I can’t do any harm to any of his patients since they are all already dead.
He simply walks over to a numbered stainless steel fridge door, opens it and slides the bullet riddled corpse of Agent Rollins out for everyone to see. I almost puke at the sight of his body. It does not look at all like the bodies you see on TV shows and I am not alone in my reaction. Agent Helligan proves that she is human by turning away, but Faraday shows absolutely zero reactions to Agent Rollins’ mangled body.
I decide that I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. Without waiting for anyone’s approval, I target his body and start casting my rezz spell. The spell demands a large portion of my essence to fuel it. As it draws on that portion, I feel the energy build and swirl around me with visible traces of white sparkles and rapid flickers of lightning. I also sense a second source of magical energy spring into existence from Dr. Random. Whatever he is doing or did, it does not interfere with my spell and I ignore it. Just like in the game, my spell takes 15 seconds to build up and less than a fraction of a second for it to blast into Rollin’s body.
A brilliant white glow surrounds his body and lifts it partially off the gurney as if there is an invisible rope tied around his waist. His feet and head remain touching the gurney as his body forms a bow. Dark ghostly shadows swirl around the body until an inky black malignant looking shadow forms and with a wail merges with Agent Rollins’ body. The shadow’s wail sets my teeth on edge and sends shivers down my body.
Something is not right!
I quickly cast my Unholy Armor buff and my Death Ward buff to help protect me from death magic. I am not sure if I need the Death Ward, but when I played; I always cast the two protection spells together. The wailing stops just as my two buffs take hold and I watch as Rollins’ body springs from the gurney with a blood curdling scream.
Whatever it is, it is not a happy to be a live Agent Rollins! It has Agent Rollins’ face, but its eyes are glowing red, its mouth is distended well past what a human’s mouth is physically capable of and its mouth is filled with with nasty looking blackened fangs. If that was not bad enough, its fingers look like jagged blackened talons and it is about to test those talons out on the nearest FBI agent.
I react by slapping my Shield of Absorption spell on the creature’s target and not a moment too soon either because just before the creature is able to take a swipe at the FBI agent, my magical, translucent bubble springs into existence around him; protecting him from the creature’s attack.
Sparks fly and magical energy flares as the creature’s talons are stopped by the shield with an audible thud. The force of the impact causes the very surprised FBI Agent back a step. The creature screams with frustration, but attempts to hit the shielded FBI agent again. Once again, the shield blocks its attack and that second attack frees the remaining FBI agents from their shocked paralysis.
They open fire with their weapons and for the most part, their aim is good, but also ineffective. Their bullets hit the creature and even appear to damage it, but it is able to ignore the damage. How do you kill something that is already dead?
With other people irritating it, the creature gives up trying to hurt the shielded agent. It turns to face its attackers, but as its gaze passes over me, its eyes appear to widen with recognition and hatred. Before it can do more, I cast my Hold Undead spell on it and breathe a sigh of relief when thick ghostly chains spring from the ground and wrap themselves tightly around the creature, holding it in place.
It screams in anger and frustration as it struggles to free itself from the ghostly chains, but they hold. Thank god!
“Cease fire! Cease fire!” Faraday says and amazingly, everyone follows his orders, but absolutely no one puts their weapons down. They all remain aimed directly at the struggling creature. I count myself lucky that they are not aiming them at me too.
“Mystique! What in the fuck happened and what is that thing!?!” Brown asks from behind me.
He sounds pissed, but I refuse to turn away from the creature to verify that. “Umm, fuck if I know, but I can tell you that the thing is undead since my Hold Undead spell worked. I can also tell you that my Hold won’t last forever. Maybe two or three minutes, tops.”
“Okay...” Faraday says, taking over and providing a calming influence on everyone else. “So, how do we kill it then?”
“I believe that creature is a ghoul and under normal situations, you would need magical or holy weapons to kill it.” Dr. Random helpfully answers.
“Normal situations?!? Someone would consider this as fucking normal?” Agent Helligan asks, clearly not happy.
I am definitely going to be spending a long time in a jail cell now. “Umm, guys? The clock is ticking...any suggestions Dr. Random?” I ask, sneaking a quick glance back to him.
“I believe that your magic is more than capable of permanently dispatching this creature. What would you have done in the game against such a creature?” Dr. Random asks.
I nervously laugh at his statement. “Umm, this is real. You do know that, right?” I ask as the creature continues to strain against its chains. I notice the chains starting to weaken and stretch.
“Crap!” I say, and then I pretend that I am playing the game. Before it can break free, I hit it with my Vampiric Curse spell. That spell does not actually do any damage to the creature, but if it works like it does in the game; it should cause a portion of the damage that I do to it, to heal me.
I manage to get that on it just in time, because with a mighty scream; it breaks the chains holding it down. I do not bother attempting to hold it again. I need to hit it with my most powerful nuke and I need to hit it now. The phrase, “I cast magic missile, into the darkness...” floats past my subconscious making me grin a bit. Yes, I am a geek and I laugh in the face of death.
Normally, my biggest nuke would take two and a half seconds to cast, but I don’t have two plus seconds to wait for it to build up. Fortunately for me, in game, there is an instant cast power that I can use once every five minutes to get around that little limitation. I tap that instant cast power and just like in the game, a magical glow flares across my skin.
Following that, I immediately start to cast my Blast of Darkness spell and as I do, time seems to slow down for me. To me, it still takes the full 2.5 seconds to cast the spell, but everyone and everything else in the room looks like they are trapped in amber while I am casting the spell. That is not what happens in the game. The spell just instant casts, but I guess that behind the scenes, it is really doing this little time stop thing.
Too cool!
“Boo ya!” I scream as normal time resumes and a black lightning bolt shoots from my hand, slamming into the creature’s chest. The bolt does not do exactly like I expected it to. It does not knock the creature back and blast it to pieces. No, at first, the creature appears to absorb the bolt, but then, a fraction of a second later the creature lets out a deafening scream as it implodes upon itself. A green bolt of energy escapes from its body and slams into me just before the creature disappears; leaving nothing behind as evidence to indicate that it was ever really here.
While I am now down to only 45% essence, I am at full of health now. I guess that my Vampiric Curse worked a little better than I expected it to work. I feel pretty damn good, but I am still under the effects of adrenalin and I know that I am going to be yelled at now.
“Ahh, I was a little afraid that that might happen.” Dr. Random says with a note of self-gratification.
Well, maybe I won’t be the one getting yelled at now. I am not the only person who turns to look at him with surprise and a little anger. “What do you mean?” I ask as calmly as I can manage as I struggle to control both my post action shaking and anger at him for not expressing his concerns earlier.
Dr. Random irritates me even more when he patiently smiles at me as if nothing is wrong. “Resurrection, as it is performed in your game works because A) It is just a game and B) because in the game, the spell can always count on the rightful owner of the body being on hand to claim their body.”
“Say what?” I ask, thoroughly confused because I don’t see how A and B can apply to this disaster. I am not alone. Everyone in the room looks both extremely shaken and confused by Dr. Random’s explanation. Well, everyone except for Faraday.
“It is actually quite simple really. The body needs its soul in order to be properly re-animated. The spell needs that spark to re-create the bond between the body and soul as it repairs the body’s damage; providing a welcome home for the body’s soul when it is done.” Dr. Random says, ignoring all the glares of annoyance directed at him. He actually looks excited by what just happened.
“Umm, okay...so, does that mean that my Resurrection spell will always create a monster like that?” I say, gesturing back to where the creature last stood.
“It shouldn’t, ‘if’ the body’s soul is available.” Dr. Random says, stressing the word ‘if’ with extra emphasis.
“Well, that doesn’t help much. How do I know ‘if’ the soul is available so ‘that’ doesn’t happen?” I say, gesturing back to the empty gurney.
Dr. Random stops to think about it for a second. “Well, it varies with the situation of the person’s death, but generally, it takes between six and ten minutes before the soul loses its connection to the flesh and moves on. Less, if the death was particularly violent and destructive of the body.”
“Okay then, so, if it takes the body’s soul to work, how did that monster get created?” I ask.
“As your spell attempted to connect with the late Agent Rollins’ soul, it created a brief gateway from the spirit world to the body. Without the body’s soul to connect to, a malignant spirit was able to latch onto and replace the body’s rightful owner, warping your restorative magic to rebuild its corporeal body into its own twisted image.”
I want to yell at him because that kind of information would have REALLY been good to know before I cast that spell. “Ya know, I think that I will just stick that spell in the very back of my non-existent spell book and forget about it.” I say as I pantomime crossing that spell of my list, and then, I turn to Faraday. “What now, fearless leader?”
Faraday looks like he wants to smile. Well, I try to imagine him wanting to smile, but he doesn’t. He calmly looks around the room as if nothing potentially lethal just happened. “I think we are done here, Miss Wilson.”
Hey, at least he didn’t call my yell at me and call me Mystique like FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Brown did.
“Let’s get you to the cows so you can heal yourself up.” Faraday says, glancing back, over his shoulder at me as we make our way toward the elevators.
“Oh, I’m good to go now. Killing the ghoul healed me.” I say.
He betrays his surprise by missing a step. “Okay then. Let’s get you out of here. I need to make a few more calls now.” He says.
Once we reach the lobby, Special Agent Helligan, Dr. Random and Agent Ferguson split off, but not before Helligan and Dr. Random shake hands with Faraday and Brown. Agent Ferguson sneaks in a friendly smile to me before I am whisked back through the doors and into the waiting SUV.
The other two nondescript, yet obvious, escort vehicles peel away from us when our SUV pulls into an average looking suburban neighborhood full of average sized houses. It is just after 8pm and full dark outside when we pull directly into the garage of just one more average looking house. Parked in the driveway is the stereotypical family minivan complete with the stick figure stickers of the perfect American family unit. One boy, one girl, a cat and a dog all holding hands with their Mom and Dad. The only thing that is missing is the “My kid is in the Honor Roll” sticker.
As the garage door closes, I glance over to Faraday. “There really isn’t a family of four at this house, I hope?”
Brown chuckles. “No, but the FBI got a good deal on the house due to the housing bubble. Excellent observation there with the minivan, Mystique. You have good instincts.”
“I am not Mystique...” I say, muttering with frustration. “Isn’t it kind of obvious to the neighbors?”
“Did you know any of your neighbors back at your apartment?” Brown asks with a smirk.
Point taken. I shake my head no and they lead me into the house. A male and a female agent meet us in the kitchen. Well, I assume that they are agents because they are both armed and have that look about them. The kind of no-nonsense law officer look that says that they are just waiting for you to mess up so that they can arrest you. They are also wearing matching wedding bands, but the rings cannot overcome their natural FBI aura. There is no way that anyone would ever think that the two of them are married to each other.
Faraday hangs back as Brown introduces me. “Agent Griebler, Agent Burns, this is Valerie Wilson, better known as Mystique.”
Grrr, again with the Mystique thing. I am not in the Mystique costume. Why does he have to keep bringing it up?
Burns is the female agent. She nods her head with acknowledgment, but she does not look happy to see me. The other dude, her fake husband, studies me for a second before looking back to Brown. “Sir, are you sure that this is the best place for her? This house isn’t the most secure.”
Even I know what he is really trying to say. “Hey, boss! How do you expect just the two of us to put down this bitch if she tries to run or attack us?”
Faraday chooses that moment to step forward. “Agent Griebler, I am sure that you have heard what is on the news about Miss Wilson here and I can assure that what has been reported thus far by the media has very little of the necessary background facts.”
Ha! I knew that I liked Faraday, but the ‘Miss’ bit is still a little jarring.
“Fact one is that a force of hostile agents assaulted a government facility, killing one DMA agent and critically injuring a second DMA agent the process.” Faraday points to me. “Her guards. Those same hostile agents also killed one security guard and injured two additional hospital staff in an attempt to capture or kill Miss Wilson. It was simply exceptional bad luck on her part to be caught up with the Riddler when she was simply attempting to hide out from her previous attackers. Your job isn’t to be her warden. Your job is to protect her and not get in her way if it comes time for her to protect you.”
Wait, what?
I glance back over to Faraday with surprise evident in my expression. Even Brown looks a little surprised by that last statement. “Brown?” Faraday asks with a serious expression.
“Yes sir?” Brown asks, looking a little confused.
“When that thing attacked Agent Fournier. What happened?” Faraday asks.
Brown’s eyes light up as he makes the connection. He gestures back to me with what, to me, looks suspiciously like respect. “Miss Wilson’s first act was to protect Agent Fournier from harm and then, she terminated the creature after we discovered that our weapons were ineffective.”
The subliminal hostility and resentment from the two FBI agents goes down by a few notches as the two FBI agents relax their posture. Agent Burns even glances at me with a more measuring look. Like she is re-evaluating her initial appraisal of me.
“Tomorrow is going to be a rather busy day for us all. Miss Wilson here is probably going to be allowed to attempt healing the two police officers that she accidently injured.” Faraday studies me with a thoughtful expression that makes me worried.
“What?” I ask.
“Hmm, we have a court date set for this Friday...” Faraday says without really explaining anything. He spins on his heel, pulls out his cell phone and leaves the room.
I am not alone with my confusion. Even Brown is confused by Faraday’s behavior, but my stomach decides that the uncomfortable silence is the perfect time to make its hunger known. Agent Burns and Agent Griebler glance over at me with a smirk that makes me glad that my blue skin does not show my embarrassment by blushing. If it did, I am sure that my face would be purple right now. “Ummm, sorry, but do you all have anything to eat here?” I ask.
“We have some frozen pizzas and some fresh steaks arrived this afternoon, but the grill is out of propane.” Agent Burns says as my eyes light up from the fresh steaks.
“Oh, can I have a steak? I just need a pan to heat it up a little on each side.” I say.
“No cookware here...” Agent Burns says with a pointed glance at her partner.
“Hey, not my fault. We just got here this morning.” Agent Griebler says defensively.
I have never ate a raw steak and never would have dreamed doing so in the past, but the steaks back at my apartment looked pretty good to me before I cooked them. “Hmm, I think that I will be okay. Raw is good.” I say as I make my way to the fridge, ignoring their surprised expressions.
Opening the door, I find four steaks, a case of beer and a case of diet soda. I glance over my shoulder at the two agents. It probably isn’t a big mystery on who drinks what here. I snag a steak and a beer. Hey, it is good beer, plus I need the vitamins, honest.
“Hey...” Agent Griebler says gesturing toward my beer.
“I’m sorry, are they yours? Mind if I have one? I can pay ya back.” I say. Unless it was the last beer, my friends and I were usually pretty free with our beer, but maybe he paid for them with his last bit of cash or something.
“You can’t drink that, you’re underage!” Agent Griebler says.
“Oh, yeah...about that. See, I’m really 27. I just look like I’m 16.” I say as I twist off the top with a satisfying pop from the released pressure. I manage to get a good solid mouthful of the heavenly liquid of the gods before the bottle is taken out of my hand.
I quickly swallow what little beer I managed to liberate. “Hey! What’s the big deal? I told ya that I would pay you back. Hell, I’ll buy you a case of Guinness if you want!” I say, feeling a little ticked off. I know that I look young, but I told him how old I really am.
Agent Griebler drops the bottle on the floor as he takes a step back while reaching for his weapon. Now, I am really pissed. That was a perfectly good bottle of beer he just wasted. “What the hell!?” I demand as he finishes drawing his weapon on me.
Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. White Queen, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.
Note:This is the final chapter of this story. Phew! I finished a story! Darn...
Thanks Lilith_Langtree, SmallBurnyThing, Enemyoffun and all the RetCon authors for creating such a fun playground. Thanks all the folks who PM'ed me with "OMG! When is the next chapter!!?!?" Okay, they never really said that, but it was kinda close and encouraging to read.
Thanks to all the readers for the comments and encouragement. Extra thanks goes out to Draflow and Beyogi for their real time feedback and last but not least, thanks to djkauf for editing.
My armor buffs are still active. So, I decide that popping my shield up would be a good idea in case the idiot decides to try and shoot me. That causes Agent Griebler to jump back another half step and really aim his weapon at me.
“Freeze! Down on the ground! Now!” Agent Griebler says, yelling desperately with the veins in his forehead popping out from the tension.
He is really wound up tight. I think that I accidently feared him because his reaction seems rather extreme to me. I mean, it was only a beer.
“Damn it, Griebler! At ease! Burns! Mystique, you too!” Brown says, bellowing with frustration.
“He started it.” I say, pointing at Griebler while ignoring the fact that he still has his weapon out and aimed at me. “...And I am not Mystique! Damn it...”
I look over at Brown and Agent Burns. She reluctantly lowers her weapon while Agent Griebler is only willing to take an additional step back.
“Fuck...” I say, exhaling with frustration and then, I turn back to the sink and grab some paper towels to soak up the spilled beer. Yes, I know that I just turned my back on someone who has a weapon aimed at me, but my shield is still active and turning my back on him might get him thinking again.
“Griebler...” Brown says, expectantly.
Towels in hand, I totally ignore Agent Griebler as I turn back and start cleaning up the beer. There is still some beer in the bottle and I debate just chugging it down right away, instead I wipe the bottle down and set it on the counter. Maybe I can drink it later.
I am not satisfied with just wiping the beer off the floor. A sticky, beer covered floor sucks to walk over after a night of partying. So, with that in mind, I crouch down and root under the sink for something to clean the floor with besides water. A half empty spray bottle of window cleaner presents itself to me. Bottle in hand, I stand back up and turn to face the offending beer spill.
“Go ahead and spray the floor. I’ll wipe it up.” Agent Griebler says, looking a little ashamed of himself as he grabs for some paper towels.
“Sorry...” I say as I spray the stuff over the floor.
He doesn’t say anything in response, but he does slow down his wiping of the floor for a second before resuming with even more force.
“Look, Agent Griebler, I’m sorry that I lost my temper with you. It has been a really bad week for me and I’ve been itching for a beer ever since that Riddler asshole decided to drop in.” I say, feeling a little bad about that fear aura thing hitting him. Well, I think it hit him because I doubt that he would normally react that way.
“So, Jade, what do you think?” I hear Faraday ask from across the room.
My eyes snap over to Faraday and standing beside him is the woman that I have heard so much about, but never actually seen in person. She looks really nice in her Green Lantern costume. Oh, who am I kidding? She’s freaking hot and I admit it, I checked her out on all the metahuman websites that posted images of her and all the other metahuman women. They are all hot, but Jade was the first and as such, she holds a special place in my sexual fantasies. I am not sure how that will work now. Is she a lesbian?
Maybe thinking about that isn’t the best thing to be doing right now.
“Her appearance is certainly is striking, but I don’t see how I can help. From a law enforcement perspective, you already have her in your custody and she hasn’t broken any intergalactic laws that I know of.”
Faraday gestures to me. “She needs one of your disguise rings.”
Jade ignores me to icily stare at Faraday. “I am sorry, but I don’t give those to criminals.”
“Innocent until proven guilty...”
“Irrelevant in this case since she doesn’t need one to help her fit in with society until after her trial.” Jade says, waving his statement away.
“Do you think that as ‘striking’ as her appearance is that she would receive a fair trial?”
Thus far, their conversation has been more like a tennis match between each other and neither one of them look comfortable with each other’s presence.
Hello? I am over here.
Jade looks like she is going to deny his statement, but she pauses to study me. “Hmmm, you have a valid point.” Once again, she ignores me and turns back to Faraday. “However; you and I both know that she would not be allowed to use the disguise in the courtroom.”
“She might be allowed for a jury trial...” Faraday shrugs.
“It’s not going to get that far, is it?”
“No...probably not.”
“You want her to have a ring to help her blend in. Maybe make it easier on herself and for you to keep her hidden.”
“Damn it, yes.” Faraday says with a barely imperceptible narrowing of his eyes to indicate just how upset he might be with himself.
Jade takes that admission as a victory and smiles with satisfaction. “Okay, since you asked so nicely, I will grant her the use of a ring with one preset disguise, but if she is found guilty and convicted; the ring will be returned to me.”
Jade saunters over to me and after the volley between her and Faraday, I really could use that beer right now. Especially now that I have her full and undivided attention. She is so damn pretty that I almost miss spotting the ring that materializes from nothing in her hand.
“Think about what you would like to look like and form that image in your mind.” She says as she hands the ring to me while maintaining contact with it as I grab onto it too.
Still feeling a little flabbergasted by her, I somehow manage to shift my attention from her to examine the deceptively simple looking platinum ring and at first, it appears to be unadorned, but then, notice that it has the green lantern symbol on one side. How cool is that?
Okay, focus Valerie, focus.
Well, I would like to have normal colored skin. Maybe blond hair like I had as Ally. Green eyes would be nice too. I kind of liked those. They looked tons less scary than red eyes. Normal human ears would probably be good too. Oh yeah, and the beer reminds me of one tiny additional little detail. I need to look closer to my real age, but maybe not that old. 24 was a good year for me. Yeah, 24 would look perfect.
[“Programming Complete. Ring authorization accepted for one Valerie Wilson, aka Mystique until preset conditions are met.”] I hear a computerized sounding voice say inside my head.
Damn it, I am not Mystique! Even the bloody ring is calling me that now.
“Well, go ahead. Put it on.” Jade says with a grin.
I am still feeling a little star struck by having someone like Jade standing right in front of me. I look down at the ring resting in the palm of my hand. It looks a little large. “Umm, okay?” I say dubiously as I slide the oversized ring over the index finger of my left hand.
It surprises me by tightening itself around my finger and shrinking down until it is a perfect fit for me. I look up at Jade and now she is smiling at me like she knows a secret.
“Okay, Mystique is authorized to enable and disable visual countermeasures until she is convicted and sentenced by a local court of law.” Jade says.
Well, that is kind of neat, but I am not sure what this ring does or how it works. I am guessing that it will give me a disguise and make me look like a normal human being, but I have no idea how to make it work. I am so distracted by Jade and the ring that I forget to protest that I am not Mystique. “Umm, how does it work?” I ask.
“Simple, just will your disguise to activate.” Jade says.
“Umm, okay. Super Disguise, activate!” I say and instantly feel silly when Jade giggles at me.
“No, just think it and will it to happen at the same time.” Jade says.
[“Activating Preset Visual Countermeasures.”]
When I hear that voice inside my head again, I take that as the signal that I did it right, but I am a little distracted when my skin shimmers for a fraction of a second. The next trick that my skin performs has me gasping with shock. My skin turns a wonderfully normal pale shade of pink. “Sorry, excuse me, but I really need to see what I look like!” I say as I desperately dash into the bathroom.
The girl, no woman, in the mirror surprises me. “Holy shh...” I say as I study my newly alien face. Alien because I was just getting used to my blue teenager dark elf face. I still look like me, sort of, but older and with green eyes, blonde hair, normal sized human ears, and not blue smurf skin. I smile and even my teeth look normal. No fangs!
Okay, so maybe I don’t look like me, I mean like Valerie the Dark Elf. No, now I look more like Ally, but not, because I am not a supermodel tall High Elf with small boobs. I mean, smaller. Not that there is anything wrong with smaller boobs. I can’t believe that I just had that argument with myself about my breast size.
“You like?” I hear Jade ask from the door that, in my haste, I forgot to close.
I turn to face her and I feel my damn eyes starting to leak as my emotions get the better of me, again. “Oh my god, yes! I never thought that I could look normal again!” I say as I reach over and hug her.
That kind of surprises me because first of all, I am hugging Jade, The Green Lantern. Second, she is a little bit taller than me and she smells nice. Third, I am hugging Jade, The Green Lantern and she is hugging me back. Finally, did I mention that I am hugging Jade, The Green Lantern?
Lightning fast, all those points run through my head. I let her go and take a step back. “Oh my god, Jade, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hug you. I hope that you’re not mad at me for touching you or something.”
Jade gently laughs at me. “Oh no, it’s fine. I was pretty surprised that Faraday called me and don’t tell him, but I am glad that he did; Even if it was more for him than for you.”
I steal another glance at my reflection in the mirror and I am struck by a horrible realization. “Oh no! I’m still a girl. Why didn’t I imagine myself as a guy?” I ask, desperately as I glance back to Jade before I realize what I just said. I feel my face flush with shame. She must think that I am a freak or something now and she will probably want her ring back.
She surprises me by giving me a quick and reassuring hug instead. “Well, because you are a girl now, but also because it would be more harmful to you in the long run if I had allowed the ring to disguise you as a male.” Jade says.
“I don’t understand. How would looking like the guy I looked like for 27 years be harmful?” I ask.
Jade’s expression softens with understanding and regret. “Because, it would only make adjusting to your new gender harder on you and tell me, how many guys do you know that thanks a stranger who helps them with a hug?” She says with a twinkle in her eyes that tells me she finds the situation humorous, but she is not laughing at me.
I don’t have an answer to that one. I hold my ring hand up. “Okkaay, maybe...but what is going to happen if they convict me? I mean, it sounds like Special Agent Extraordinaire Faraday is working on getting some of the charges dropped, but there will probably still be some charges left due to me sorta losing control and hurting two police officers. Well, after they shot me.” I say, adding the last part after a moment’s hesitation.
Jade smiles patiently at me. “Well, I have only known you for a few minutes now, but I can tell that you’re not the villain that you have been portrayed as in the news. After your trial, I will drop back down and we can talk about it. How’s that sound?”
Now I am a little hopeful that I will get to keep the ring, but also a little afraid that I won’t. “Okay...umm, thanks.” I say as my damn female emotions kick in and I feel my eyes start to get all wet again.
Jade giggles and gives me another hug. Did I mention that she is even more beautiful in person than she is on the interwebs? With that thought, she lets me go, then with a grin and a green glow, shoots straight up and through the ceiling without leaving a trace of her passage.
Now, that is cool! Why couldn’t I have a cool power like that instead of my slightly evil Dark Elf Priest powers of death and destruction?
I walk out of the bathroom in a slight daze, past all the similarly stunned Agents and directly to the half a bottle of beer still sitting on the counter and I down it. No one says a word to me about drinking the beer as I set the empty bottle back down on the counter with an intense feeling of satisfaction and relief.
“Ahhhh!” I say with relief because not only do I manage to drink it without interruption, but I also discover that I still like and enjoy the taste of beer. The sudden change of my taste buds to enjoy wine had me a little concerned.
The steak is missing from the counter, so I check the fridge and there it is. I pull it out and look in the cabinets for something eat it on.
“Umm, we don’t have any plates or silverware yet either.” Agent Burns says, breaking the silence.
I glance down to the plastic wrapped package of steak. “Umm, anyone have a pocket knife that I can borrow?” I ask.
Agent Burns nods at me. “I have one in my purse...” She says as she grabs her purse from the counter. Well, I assume that it is her purse since she is the only other female here and my purse is still lost somewhere.
She pulls out a nice six inch long Gerber locking blade and hands it to me. “You might wanna wash it off first.”
I follow her advice and after a quick rinse, I use it to cut open the package of steaks. The smell of fresh meat hits my saliva glands hard and instead of cutting off a cautious bite to test the taste with; I hack off a good mouthful and cram the raw and bloody chunk of steak into my mouth using the tip of the blade like a fork. Either this cut of steak is way better than what I had back in my apartment or the steak tastes even better raw instead of lightly cooked.
I decide to grab another beer and sit at the table like a civilized person, but after I do that and take cut of my second bite of raw steak; the rest of the agents decide that they have other things to do. Agent Faraday leaves and then, returns from the garage with my pink suitcase. Agent Burns seizes the initiative and gains permission to go on a supply run using the minivan. Agent Griebler is not so lucky. He is forced to stay with me, while Special Agent-in-Charge Brown takes off with Faraday.
“See ya in the morning and leave your cell phone off until after tomorrow please.” These are Faraday’s only parting words of wisdom to me.
Cell phone? Oh crap! My suitcase! Holy shit. In my rush to feed my face, I totally spaced the fact that Faraday brought my suitcase into the house for me. Well, not much I can do about it right now. I am eating and my FBI issued sweats are perfectly comfy.
I polish off the first steak and half of the second beer before I slow down enough to sit back and enjoy my meal. I glance up and Agent Griebler is just kind of staring at me with a confused expression. “What?” I ask as I take another sip of beer.
“Umm, nothing.” Agent Griebler says, not very convincingly.
“Go ahead, ask...” I say, setting my beer down on the table. I figure that I kind of owe it to him since I accidently scared him enough to make him draw his weapon on me. He probably wants to ask me if I was really a guy or something else extra embarrassing.
“Is that what you looked like before you manifested?” Agent Griebler asks.
Okay, that surprises me. “Umm, no. I was a little bit heavier.” I say, dodging the issue because if he doesn’t know that I was a guy; I am not about to make things even weirder by telling him. My own little “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“Oh, did it hurt?” Agent Griebler blushes. “I mean, umm, sorry.”
Ha! Did it hurt? That’s kind of funny and it makes me laugh. “Oh hell yeah!. At least the part where I got electrocuted did for a second or two.” I sober up as I remember that brief flash of pain. “But, then I woke up, saw myself and freaked out, a little. So, yes and no?” I say, hesitantly.
“Oh, okay and sorry about the beer thing earlier. You just looked so, umm, you know...” Agent Griebler says as he gestures to me with a confused and flustered expression.
I might have to re-evaluate my opinion of him. He might not that bad of a dude. “Yeah, I know and lemme tell ya that this...” I say, pointing to my newly disguised self. “...is much better! You would not believe how frustrating it can be having people treat you like a kid or even worse, run screaming from the room because of how you look.”
He jumps at that statement. “That’s happened to you?”
“Well, not the last part, but people have reacted like they wanted too.” I say, admitting my little embellishment.
“John,” He says cause me to jump at the mention of my old name. “What? Is something wrong?” He asks looking at me with concern.
I nervously laugh because for a second there I thought that he was calling me John, but that is his name. “Sorry, nope, nothing. I was just surprised that your name is John, because that was...” I trail off hoping that he will let it go.
“Ahh, an ex-boyfriend?” He asks with what sounds suspiciously like a hopeful question before he chuckles. “Not a problem. I will try not to be a dick. You can just call me Griebler if it is a problem for you.”
“Yeah, an ex. So, anyway John, I have never met, much less had dinner with an FBI Agent or been hidden away in a safe house, but what is it like working for the FBI? Have you caught any terrorists, been in any shootouts or busted any mobsters like they show on TV?” I ask, feeling genuinely curious because growing up; the FBI and the police were the heroes.
Thankfully, he finds my question and excuse to talk about himself while I use that distraction to revisit my steak. Don’t get me wrong, his life story is interesting. I don’t just ignore him, but I do discover that I am actually feeling a little full now and the second steak is now looking too large for my stomach. I guess that the beer is helping to fill the void that was my appetite.
I motion for John to continue telling me his story as I pop the steak back in the fridge. I would wrap it back up, but nothing to do that with. Hopefully Agent Burns will grab some bags or something at the store.
I am about to ask John if he wants a beer when someone knocks on the front door. John instantly reacts by jumping up while I react by refreshing my buffs.
[“Deactivating Preset Visual Countermeasures.”]
What!? Why? I am a little distracted by what my ring is yelling at me about by what is happening in the house. John’s eyes widen with surprise as he takes in the return of my real appearance, but he motions for me to stay in place as a simple pattern of four knocks are tapped on the door.
[“Magical Use detected...Rate Limit Imposed for 30 minutes post event.”]
Oh great. Now I have a nanny ring too?
John cautiously lowers his weapon.
“What?” I silently mouth as I hear a key being inserted into the front door followed by the door swinging open.
“Honey, I’m home!” I hear Agent Burns sing out.
Dang it! All I did was buff myself and now I am going to be stuck looking like myself for 30 minutes. Well, I hope that it is only 30 minutes.
Agent Burns walks into the kitchen with two large brown paper bags in arms. She stops when she catches sight of me. “What happened to your disguise?”
I hold up my hand with the ring and point to it. “Apparently, it doesn’t like it when I use magic. It shut down for 30 minutes when I buffed myself.” I say with frustration.
“Oh, well. I got us some paper plates and some plastic silverware, plus some extra kitchen supplies and a cheap pan in case you wanna cook a steak.”
I dubiously glance at the pan as she pulls it out of the bag. She notices my expression. “Or use it as a weapon against Griebler. How many stories did he tell about his ‘many’ shootouts and car chases to try and impress you with?” Agent Burns asks with a roll of her eyes.
I glance over at John, I mean Agent Griebler and I catch him shooting Agent Burns “The Look”. Yes, that look. The look that every guy uses when his buddies are busting him in front of a chick that he is trying to impress. The “Hey! You weren’t supposed to tell her that! I thought we were friends” look that he quickly tries to hide after he catches me looking at him.
Oh my god. He was flirting with me and I never even noticed. I glare at him more with shock than anger, but I also sort of hope that my aura thing hits him.
Undeterred, Agent Burns laughs. “Well, did he also tell you that the one time he was in car chase, he spent the entire time holding onto the oh-shit bar for dear life and screaming like a little girl?”
“Umm, I’ll go get the rest of the stuff from the car. Be right back ‘dear’.” Agent Griebler says as he adroitly makes his way out of the suddenly dangerous kitchen area.
“Oh shit bar?” I ask, curious because I have never heard of something like that.
Agent Burns giggles. “Yeah, better known as the passenger assist handle.”
“Oh...Okay, that is kinda funny.” I say just before I giggle escapes me when I visualize him in action. “No, that is actually really funny, but who was driving?”
She smiles and proudly points to herself. “Me, of course. John sucks at driving.”
“Hey! I do not!” Agent Griebler says with wounded pride as he returns with two more bags of groceries.
That lightens my mood a lot and I can’t help relaxing around both of them. Agent Burns finishes unpacking the supplies and when she pulls out a roll of plastic wrap, I grab it and use it to cover the open steak in the fridge. She also rustled us up some milk, cereal, a dozen eggs, sausage and a pack of breakfast muffins. I help her put all the stuff away and the routine helps me relax even further.
“So, umm, Agent Burns, do you have a first name or should I just keep calling you Agent Burns?” I ask.
“Heather and it is fine in the house and when we are relaxing, but Agent Burns or Burns when I am ‘on duty’ please.”
Thankfully, there is a TV in the house and a fairly good one even. Even better, we have cable and I find something to watch. It takes exactly 30 minutes before I am able to reactivate my human woman disguise and I feel very relieved when I am able to hide my own skin. I veg in front of the TV until 11pm and my guards ask me if I am going to bed. They seem a bit surprised by my assertion that I am nocturnal and not tired at all. They work out a four hour watch rotation and Heather snags the first watch.
That proves to be informational for me in more than one way when she asks me if I wouldn’t mind watching some military history shows on the History Channel. I thought for sure that she would want to watch something about gardening or even worse, fashion, but that just goes to show that I am more sexist than I thought I was. Something that I should remember in the future. Hey, did you know that Patton’s Second Armored Division motto was “Hell on Wheels”?
I try to meditate to recover my essence, but after 30 minutes of sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room; I only manage to regain 5% of my essence. I need moonlight. I think.
“Umm, Heather? Can we open the shades here so I can get some moonlight?” I ask.
Agent Burns looks down at me and frowns. “Hmmm, lemme check something first.” She peeks out of the sliding glass doors, then opens the doors and walks out and into the backyard of the house.
She returns after less than a minute. “Okay. We have a good sized privacy fence back here and it looks like all of the neighbors are asleep. So, go ahead.”
I walk over to the doors, look up and spot the moon shining through a light cloud cover. The light feels warm against the skin of my upturned face. I take that as a good sign, sit down and begin my meditation again. Five minutes later, I am back up to 100% essence. Yes, I can regenerate essence without moonlight, but the moon seems to be a key ingredient to making that regeneration not take forever.
John replaces Heather at 2am, there is nothing on TV, neither one of us feels like talking and I get bored. Not that I want to talk with John because now that I know that he was flirting with me, I am all icked out. I know exactly what was really going on in his head when he was chatting me up earlier and being on the receiving end of that is uncomfortable for me. That makes me wish that I was not nocturnal because then I could go to bed, sleep and not think about it, but then I remember my suitcase. I am still wearing the FBI sweat pants and I feel a little grimy from the fight with the thing and the flight.
“Hey, umm, John, do ya mind if I take a shower? Do we have any towels?” I ask, and then I immediately regret asking him because I am not so sure that I want to take a shower with him around. I should have taken one when Heather was on duty and how will I manage without Jen here to distract me?
“Oh, yeah. Sure and surprisingly, we do have towels.” John says with a tired grin. “Are you getting tired yet?”
I think about it for a second. “Umm, nope, not one bit, but maybe a nice warm shower will help?” I say, hesitantly as I glance over at my suitcase.
“Here, lemme show you where your room is.” John says as he helps me by grabbing my suitcase for me.
‘My’ room just happens to be the master bedroom and it is kind of nice. I have my very own king sized bed and private bathroom. John sets my suitcase on top of my bed for me. “Here ya go. I will be in the kitchen making some coffee if you need anything.”
“Okay, thanks.” I say, feeling a bit relieved. I was afraid that he was going to stay in my room and stand guard or something. I dig into my suitcase and kick myself for not thinking to check it sooner. I find my purse and Kim’s magazine stuck conveniently on top of the rest of my clothes. All of which have been neatly folded and packed away for me. Well, they look neater than they were the last time I saw them. I inspect my purse and inside, I find my phone, its battery, my money and last but not least, those uniquely female things. I remember reading somewhere that some Special Forces folks use them to plug bullet wounds. Maybe if I thought of them that way, they wouldn’t seem so wrong to carry in my purse. Oh, who in the hell am I kidding? I have a freaking purse!
I debate sticking the battery in the phone and sending Jen and Kim a text, but Faraday warned me not to. So, like a good little, ummm, person, I follow his advice and leave it alone, for now. I really hope that I can talk to Jen and or Kim soon though. Jen, because I want to know if she is okay and Kim, because I want to know if she still likes me. The imprinting thing is killing me because I am worried that she will not want have anything to do with me now that I am this big evil villainess person in the news.
I grab a fresh pair of panties, a bra and I can’t resist grabbing my black “Keep out of direct sunlight!” baby doll t-shirt. Once again, that makes me think of Kim and that makes me miss her even more. I also grab the girl shower supplies that Kim thoughtfully included and pad cautiously into the bathroom. Since I do not need it, I decide to leave the light off and close the door. That helps me feel a little be safer since no one will be able to see me, while I will be able to see them. Not that I want to see anyone else.
I frown at myself when remove Jade’s ring and my disguise drops. My blue skin seems even more noticeable and weird to me now, but I can’t really afford to think of it as my ring. I am just borrowing it and I fully expect her to want it back after the trial. Still, it would be nice if she lets me keep it. I like looking like a normal g-person instead of a scary blue skinned freak.
I find the shower refreshing, relaxing and I even manage to properly clean all my new parts without freaking out. I also do not try to play with my new parts because that would just be weird with a pair of FBI agents in the house with me. That makes me think of Jen and then, I actually find myself regretting that I don’t feel brave enough to do a little self-exploration. I can face just a little bit of peril...Nope, it’s much too perilous!
I manage to dress and blow dry my hair all by myself, but that’s not really that hard. After all, I am all grown up, but my current situation has exposed me to more gender differences than I ever wanted to know about. It was way more fun to make fun of Jen for taking so long to get ready than it is to actually find out first hand why it takes so long for a woman to get ready. I mean, except for the bra, the dressing part isn’t that much harder, but I have to admit that having to blow dry your hair is a chore.
This was much easier when Jen was doing it for me. Once again, I think about getting it cut, and once again, Kim and Jen’s rather forceful insistence that I keep it makes me grin and bear it. It is kind of nice. Damn it.
My lazy shower and getting ready for nothing wasted 45 minutes, which is not a good sign. Is it going to be possible for me to be ready to go in 20 minutes or less anymore? All I did extra was wash and condition my hair, which added at least five minutes. The bra, well, I don’t think I can officially count that, but if I could, it would add another two minutes. It was the blow drying that added the most time. That took an easy 10 extra minutes. I sure hope that I never have to worry about putting makeup on my face.
I put Jade’s ring back on and will my disguise back to life. I feel so relieved by having normal colored skin again, that I decide not to put my hair up in a ponytail. It feels kind of relaxing not having my hair constantly being pulled and I just want to chill. I cautiously sneak out of the bathroom wearing only my t-shirt and panties.
That state of undress would not normally be a problem for me because I went to college and I lived in the dorms. For a guy, wearing a t-shirt with briefs or boxers in the dorms was almost considered to be fully clothed. However; a chick wearing only a t-shirt and panties was considered a sex object, the subject of many whistles and congratulations for the lucky guy that she spent the night with. Maybe, I should start wearing boxers? That ridiculous idea makes me laugh at myself as I pad softly to the door of my room.
The door is open a crack, but I can hear the TV and as I anxiously peek out and into the hallway. I do not spot anyone trying to ogle me from the hallway. Not that I really expected to and who knows, the entire house might be wired for video and I could have an entire team of FBI agents watching my every move.
I softly close my bedroom door and quickly slip on a pair of jeans followed by a pair of the ankle socks that Kim bought me. I kind of miss my normal heavy-duty athletic style tube socks, but I discover that I also like not having all that heavy fabric on my legs. I almost don’t put my sneakers on, but my previous escape under fire makes me change my mind on that because there is no way that I want to try running without shoes on my feet.
I decide to lie on my bed and re-read the Cosmo. Seriously, I am that bored. It works, because the next thing I know, someone is rudely shaking me awake. “Uhhhh, go away. Ten more hours...” I say, mumbling as bright sunlight sneaks its way through the blinds.
“Come on honey, it’s time to get ready for school...” I hear my mom say with a smile in her voice.
“Ten more....Mom?!?” I say as I bolt upright and see Kim sitting calmly on the bed next to me. I can’t believe that she is here.
I look past her and Faraday is looking in from the doorway with what looks suspiciously like a grin. Okay, maybe the hint of a grin if you look hard enough. “You would not believe how much of a pest your ‘Mom’ can be.” He turns and calls back over his shoulder as he walks away. “Ten minutes, then we leave for the hospital.”
“Oh my god! Kim!” I say as practically bowl her over when I jump into her warm embrace.
“Hey, what happened to ‘Mom’?” Kim asks with an indignant smirk.
“Sorry, umm, Mom, but I wasn’t sure if you would still like me after I kinda went a little crazy, you know?” I say.
“Hey, you’re still my daughter...” Kim looks confused for a second. “Well, sort of, but I think of you that way. I would love you no matter what.” She says with more confidence.
That makes my eyes start to leak again. Damn crappy female plumbing. It is just shoddy work I tell you. I decide to cover the leaks by hugging her tighter. I waste an entire minute just hugging her and being hugged. “Umm, what about Dad?” I ask, leaning back so that I can try to see what she is feeling.
Kim turns her head to the side. “Weelll, he’s still a little freaked out,” She turns back to face me with laughter dancing in her eyes. “, but the boys are excited!”
That makes me laugh. “I’ve never had little brothers before. I was an only child. Do they like to play video games?” I ask because it might be kind of fun to teach them how to play. Although, they might be better than me already.
“Umm, yes. Too much sometimes, but what happened to you?” Kim asks, then pauses to study me for a moment. “You look normal.”
“I do?” I ask, before I realize that she is talking about my disguise. “Oh! Oh yeah, Jade, The Green Lantern, gave me a disguise ring. See?” I drop the disguise.
Kim shakes her head with wonder. “That is...interesting.” She frowns. “But, I think that I like how you look as a dark elf though. Something about that just feels normal to me...”
Now, I am really confused about my appearance. How can she think that me looking like a dark elf is normal? “What?” I ask before Kim holds her hand up to stop me.
“Wait, we can talk about it during the ride over.” Kim says as she stands up and motions for me to join her. “We need to get you ready to go. That Mr. Faraday is very serious about schedules.”
Kim leads me into the bathroom and takes the brush to my hair. She checks her watch. “Okay, we have enough time...turn around.” She says as she spins me around by my shoulders.
I watch her in the mirror as she pulls my hair straight back like she is going to put it up in a ponytail for me, but instead, she quickly braids my hair. “Your hair is so pretty. It’s like spun silver...” She says with a smile as she ties it off with a fluffy black hair scrunchy.
I must admit, that the silver color is kind of nice, but I think that I prefer a more normal hair color, like blonde or black.
“There, perfect!” Kim says, surprising me with her pronouncement.
I spin around and check out my profile in the mirror. The braid looks pretty nice and it even feels a little more comfortable than a ponytail. The scrunchy even matches my shirt. Where did she get that from? I reactivate my disguise and Kim gasps with a mixture astonishment and disappointment.
Based upon her reactions, I feel a little unsure about my disguise now. That makes me acutely aware of the fact that my disguise makes me look closer to my real age instead of like Kim’s teenage dark elf daughter. Not that anyone would ever think that I was her daughter. We do not resemble each other in the slightest. “Umm, I guess that we can talk about it in the car?” I say, hesitantly.
This time, I remember to grab my purse and we meet Faraday in the hallway. I guess that he was just coming to get us. He leads us to the garage and we pile into the black, standard issue SUV. It takes us an hour to get to the hospital where they are treating the two police officers and that is with non-rush hour traffic. I shudder to think what the drive would be like during rush hour. During that time, I tell Kim my story and she helps me through some of the rough spots with hugs of encouragement. I don’t understand exactly why, but she still prefers me without my disguise. Maybe that is because of what I looked like when we imprinted on each other?
Me, I just feel like someone is bound and determined to keep me a dark elf.
We are met at the front of the hospital by at least ten people wearing FBI jackets and looking all serious along with another ten even more serious looking police officers. Special Agent-in-Charge Brown is there and at his side is some guy wearing an expensive suit and another police officer who has some stars on his shoulders. I guess that he is the Chief of Police.
Faraday leads me and Kim over to the men. He smiles and shakes the hand of the man in the expensive suit first. “Mr. Gregory Roseland, this is Mrs. Kim Elletson, RN and next to her is Miss Valerie Wilson, otherwise known as Mystique.”
I manage to refrain from correcting Faraday, but I am not Mystique, damn it. Mr. Roseland looks at me with a hard to read expression, but if I had to guess; I would guess that he is not happy to see me, since he only acknowledges me with a curt nod of his head while he smiles politely and shakes Kim’s hand.
Mr. Roseland’s treatment of me does not go unnoticed by Faraday. “Valerie, Mr. Roseland here is the L.A. County District Attorney, but standing next to him is the L.A. County Chief of Police, Chief Adam Falks.”
The Chief actually acknowledges my presence with a polite handshake. “You don’t look like Mystique, but I guess that is part of your power. Are you really going to be able to help my men?” He asks as he releases my hand.
I look up to his eyes. “Yes sir, or die trying.” I say with complete sincerity.
“Valerie!” Kim says with shock as she pulls me protectively to her.
“I’ll try not to though.” I say softly into her ear, but I don’t think that reassures her any.
With that, I am lead to the bank of elevators and then, to the sixth floor. A fresh batch of police officers and FBI agents meet us there, along with Special Agent Helligan, Agent Ferguson and Agent Thompson. He flashes me a reassuring grin before he re-applies his serious face.
Thus far, everyone has been looking at me without too much alarm, but I expect that to change as soon as I start casting and my disguise drops. Since it will take 30 minutes before I will be able to re-activate Jade’s ring, I should have brought my hoodie to help disguise me after I am done here. Oh well, maybe I can just wait 30 minutes or borrow another FBI jacket for that.
They bring me to the officer that is in the worst shape and I find it amazing how many people with weapons they manage to fit into his room. An attractive, yet very exhausted looking woman in her mid-thirties is sitting anxiously next to the unconscious police officer and holding his hand. I spot a wedding band on her hand. She must be his wife.
The woman glares at me with anger as soon as she spots me. “Is that her?” She asks Chief Falk.
He simply nods his head and I decide to drop my disguise since it would fail as soon as I tried to cast anyway. Plus, this way, the woman will be able to see me as I really am.
The woman blinks with surprise from my sudden reveal, but she stands and calmly walks up to me, looking me squarely in my eyes. She silently studies my eyes for few seconds and I can tell that she has a lot of emotion boiling under the surface, but I can’t tell if she is going to punch me, slap me or shoot me. She does not look at all happy to see me and I can’t really blame her. I have no idea what I would do if the person who hurt someone I loved walked into the room. She glances over to an anxious looking Kim then quickly back to me. “Can you really make him better?” She asks.
I don’t trust my voice to reply without it breaking up from the complex swirl of emotions. In spite of the fact that her husband shot me, I really feel bad for her. I simply nod my head once and look over at the police officer. My new found sense tells me that he is at 20%, but unlike Thompson, he is in stable condition. Wow, I really messed him up.
“Ma’am, I really must protest! Letting this, this thing try to cast some magic spell and heal your husband is hardly safe!” A man wearing a white doctor’s lab coat admonishes her from the other side of the bed.
Thing!? Really dude?
Feeling just a little pissed, I glance over the obnoxious doctor and glare at him. It was just a little glare, honest.
“Ahhh! Get it out of my hospital!” He yells with panic as he jumps back in an attempt to put as much distance as possible between me and him in the cramped room.
I probably should learn to control both my temper and that fear thing of mine. It has mostly proven to be a pain in the ass for me, but I can also see how it could be useful in the right situations. Like, when I am negotiating with a bad guy to get him to surrender or something. Not that I expect to be some silly superhero and have that happen to me. Nope, I would just like to get back to work and be a normal person again.
Faraday sighs with frustration and walks over to the now very upset doctor. “Now, Doctor Franks, we discussed this already and your hospital’s president agrees that as long as the patient or his spouse agrees to allow Miss Wilson to treat your patient, that we would allow that to happen.”
Doctor Franks straightens out his lab coat and regains some composure, but I think that my fear thing rattled him, a lot. “Be that as it may, I simply refuse to let this, this...” He gestures to me. “, thing do her voodoo magic thing on my patient, “He looks over at the police officer’s wife. “, and I seriously advise Mrs. Reynolds to refuse to allow it. A hospital is no place to perform experimental procedures!”
Ahh, so I can heal him if he or his wife says that it is okay. With a sidelong glance in my direction, Faraday takes Doctor Frank off to the side to negotiate with him in less strident tones and I use that opportunity. “Umm, Mrs. Reynolds,” I say as I turn to her with what I hope is an appropriately apologetic expression. “, I really am sorry that I hurt your husband. If I could turn back time, I would have done so many things differently, but I can’t. I can only try to make things right. May I try to heal your husband?”
I notice Doctor Franks turn away from Faraday with a desperate expression. He captures her attention by calling out. “Mrs. Reynolds, you can’t let that thing...”
She looks very conflicted as she glances back to me before she walks back over to her husband and grabs his hand with tears in her eyes. No one says a thing as she simple hold her husband’s limp hand for over a minute as she silently prays to herself.
I feel an instinctive urge to try and comfort her, but I know that would probably not go over too well.
Mrs. Reynolds looks back at me and after another second or two, she nods her head once. “Can you really help him?” She asks, softly.
I walk over and gently place my hand on her shoulder. “Yes, yes I can. Will you let me?”
“Yes, please...” Mrs. Reynolds says as tears burst from her eyes and my mom, umm, Kim, rushes in to comfort her.
There is no time like the present, but instead of shooting a brilliant green laser beam of healing from across the room. I decide to try and cast it while touching his chest instead. No need to make it look like I am trying to zap him and upset his wife even more. It works and a bright green aura swirls around my hand as I channel my health into the man.
Once again, I feel my health being pulled from my body and it is not a comfortable feeling. Officer Reynolds’ eyes open almost immediately as his body begins to heal and just like when I healed Thompson, for every 2% of my health, I heal 10% of his. He tries to sit up at the 80% mark, but I gently press my hand into his chest. “Please, let me finish...” I say with a slight groan of pain.
He glances around nervously at all the people in his room before his eyes settle on his wife and with a sigh, he relaxes so that I can finish. It only takes me another second before he is at full health and I cancel the spell. With that, I step back and I am surprised to find Agent Thompson there to help support me. I think that I handle the pain a little better this time, but I still end up feeling grateful for Agent Thompson’s presence.
My legs feel a little wobbly, but not nearly as bad as they were the first time. I am down to 84% and I doubt that they will let me make another monster in the morgue for me to kill so that I can recover my health the easy way. I hope that the other officer doesn’t need as much.
“Brad!” Mrs. Reynolds cries as she brushes past me in her rush to hug her husband.
I smile both with satisfaction and amusement because if he calls her Janet, I am going to lose it. Before that can happen, I use that happy distraction to try sneaking out of the room and avoid any further confrontation with the grumpy doctor, but it proves to be very difficult with a room full of police, FBI agents, DMA agents, the Chief of Police and the District Attorney. Agent Thompson makes that goal even more difficult by gently restraining me under the guise of helping to support me.
It is not only confrontation that I am trying to avoid because once again, I also discover that everyone’s healthy glows look rather tasty to me. Mmmm, all that tasty health. I only need a nibble. Maybe I really am a vampire, of sorts.
Despite the evidence to the contrary, the good Doctor Franks refuses to acknowledge my good deed, but I don’t really need his approval. It is Mrs. Reynolds and to a slightly lesser degree, her husband who I worry the most about. Okay, it would be nice if the grumpy police officer didn’t hate me for nearly killing him, but I will feel even better if his wife doesn’t hate me anymore.
As he his hugging his sobbing wife, Officer Reynolds looks at me with suspicion, but doesn’t try to jump out of the bed and attack me, so I consider that part a victory. Mrs. Reynolds senses her husband’s gaze and after a moment longer, she reluctantly releases him and faces me with her tear streaked face. She composes herself admirably and approaches me.
Now, I really don’t know what she is going to do or say. I would be happy with a small smile of approval from her. She doesn’t even have to say a word, but instead of taking the easy way out; she gives me a quick hug.
“Thanks.” Mrs. Reynolds says softly and with emotion as she pulls me to her, and then releases me to rejoin her husband.
With that, I am finally ‘escorted’ out of the room and to the next officer’s room. Officer Grant is in much better shape. He is only down by 15% and from the way he is alertly sitting up in his bed, he looks like they might release him in a day or two. He studies me more with curiosity than suspicion and I find that reassuring. I guess that they briefed him.
Grumpy Voodoo Magic Hating Doctor Franks elects to wash his hands of the entire affair and not accompany us. I imagine that is so that he can lodge a protest with some medical board or something. Like I care. I never studied the laws of medicine, thus they don’t apply to me. I hope that my Road Runner logic will work out for me.
“Umm, so, like I am sorry that I zapped you, but if you let me zap you again, I can fix you.” I say with a slight attempt at humor since he isn’t currently trying to shoot me. “Well, fix your wounds anyway. Not ‘fix’ fix you because that would just be evil.”
Officer Grant actually laughs at my little joke. “Sure, but only because hospital food is so horrible, but I must admit that the nurses are rather nice.”
Yeah, he’s not married and I find myself feeling even worse for hurting him now. He seems pretty cool and he might have even been someone I would have hung out with and drank a few beers over a game. I walk up, place my hand on his chest and before I can change my mind because this is probably going to hurt, I activate my Vampiric Heal.
Yep, it hurts, but healing him only takes another 3% of my health. Hardly anything really and if I was really in the game, 3% would regen on its own in just a few minutes because that is really more like stubbing your toe than getting injured. I am down to 81% health and Officer Grant surprises me by reflexively grabbing a hold of my hand when a small groan of pain escapes me. His hand, plus the ever vigilant Agent Thompson helps to prevent me from falling backwards and onto my ass.
How in the hell was I able to use this spell in the game without any of these problems. I would think that the game designers would have at least made my character move a little slower or something to show that it hurt her. Maybe they gave Vylencia a pass since she was usually in combat at the time and had an enemy to heal herself back up via a drain. Well, and it was just a game.
“Are you okay?” Officer Grant asks as he continues to hold my hand.
I manage to shake off the pain and stand on my own, more or less. I pull my hand away and smile gratefully at him. “Yeah, mostly. Thanks for the hand.” I say, causing him to laugh and me to blush when I realize what I just said. Once again, I am so glad that my skin does not betray my embarrassment by turning purple.
“Hey, not a problem. Thanks for the healing or whatever it was that you did. I feel like a million bucks now. Even my old shoulder injury feels better.” Officer Grant says with a grin that slowly fades to wonder as he studies my face with an expression that looks suspiciously like recognition. “Umm, did you know that without the wig that you look more like a DBO Dark Elf than Mystique?”
Now it is my turn to be surprised. I can’t believe that someone else would recognize that. I laugh because it is actually pretty damn funny. “Yeah, hard to believe that someone would mistake me for Mystique, right?” I ask as a gesture to the rest of my appearance.
“Do you play?” Officer Grant asks with a hopeful expression.
His expression is easily recognizable by me. It was the same expression that I probably had plastered on my face when I met Mode at the convention. It is the “wow, I can’t believe that she plays! Maybe she will go out with me” expression.
“Umm, I did...” Agent Thompson distracts me by gently pulling me towards the door. “Sorry, but bye!” I say over my shoulder on the way out of his room.
Mom, I mean, Kim, I mean, I am so confused, but she quickly joins me on my left side while Agent Thompson keeps a gentle hold on my right as he steers and assists me down the hall and into a small worker break room that Faraday has commandeered to work as a conference room.
Mr. Roseland, Chief Falk, Faraday, Brown and Helligan are all seated at the table and they appear to be working out a deal of some sort. Mr. Roseland has his briefcase open and is placing some paperwork inside. He looks up at me as I enter the room.
“So, we are in agreement then?” Faraday asks, looking at Mr. Roseland.
He nods with agreement. “Yes, I believe that the solution that you worked out with the FBI will be in the best interest of everyone involved, including Mystique.”
I sigh with frustration. I am not Mystique.
“What solution?” I ask, suspiciously as all eyes turn to me.
“Why don’t you go ahead and take a seat Valerie. Mr. Roseland will explain to you what he feels that he can get the Judge to agree to.” Faraday says, gesturing for me to take the seat next to him.
Feeling somewhat nervous, I cautiously take the offered seat. “Okaaay, what’s up?” I ask.
“Despite what the media has reported, I think that it is fairly easy to see that you were not part of the Joker and the Riddler’s little plot. All of those charges will be dropped. However; that still leaves Resisting Arrest, Attempted Murder and Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Of those charges, Attempted Murder and Assault with a Deadly Weapon are the only remaining valid chargeable offenses.”
I feel my stomach flip over as my mom grip my shoulders tightly. “What do you mean?! She just healed them and you know that her weapon wasn’t real.” Kim says, heatedly.
“Now, now Mrs. Ittner, I am getting to that.” Mr. Roseland says, looking up at my mom with a grimace. “Now, as I was saying, I am willing to drop both of those two charges, but I cannot just let her go scot free. The media would have a cow and she did injure Officer Reynolds and Officer xxx, right?”
I feel my eyes begin sting as my emotions try to get the better of me. “Yes, sir, but I healed them...” I say.
“Yes, and it is because of that, that I am willing to offer you a plea deal. If you are willing to plead guilty to two counts of Reckless Endangerment, I will drop all of the remaining charges.”
I glance up to an anxious and hopeful looking Kim and then, back down to Mr. Roseland. “Umm, that sounds nice, but what does it mean? Will I have to go to jail?”
“Yes, well, the maximum sentence per count is one year...”
My stomach drops again.
Mr. Roseland holds up his hand in an attempt to forestall further reaction. “But, I will recommend no more than 30 days per count, but I believe that Special Agent-in-Charge Brown has a counter offer for you to consider.”
Both Kim and I turn expectantly in Mr. Brown’s direction. He fidgets nervously in his chair. “Yes, well, Mystique, the FBI would like to offer you a position working for the FBI as part of our recently formed Meta-Human Crime Task Force.”
I rock back in my chair. I am surprised. On one hand, I find the idea of not going to jail to be rather attractive, but on the other hand, I find the idea of join the FBI or go to jail to be somewhat crazy. I thought that the old join the military or go to jail was a thing of the past. “Umm, that sounds interesting, but what would I actually do?”
“Well, in the event that we needed to arrest a dangerous meta-human, you would be called in to assist our agents.”
I can’t help think about how dangerous that would be for me. Yes, I know that I am powerful, but some of those meta-humans are downright deadly.
“We will provide you with the standard FBI Special Agent training and when there is not an active need for your assistance, you would be given a cover identity and allowed to live where ever you would like.”
“Could I live with Kim?” I ask as I reach up and hold her hand. She enthusiastically squeezes my hand in return. I don't have to look at her. I can feel her smile warming me.
Mr. Brown smiles with victory. “Yes, I believe that a mutually beneficial arrangement can be made.”
“Okay then, I think that I can accept the FBI’s offer of employment. I need a new job anyway.” I say with a smile.
Mr. Roseland, Mr. Brown and Faraday have a lot more bits of official paper for me to read and sign, but in the end; I think that today is turning out to be pretty damn good day for me. I feel like I can breath and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope that it is not a train. Hehe.
All the administration gives my disguise time to reset and I reactivate it before we leave the room. I still receive a few second glances on the way to the elevator, but they are mostly just curious glances by visitors and staff as to why I have so many people surrounding me. I over hear a few whispers of, “Who is she? Is she a movie star?” Thankfully, once we reach the ground floor, it is only a quick jaunt down another hall and into the waiting SUV.
“Make way! Coming through!” I hear from behind my party.
I almost expect my escort to react by drawing their weapons, but instead, after a quick glance to the rear, we all move to the side of the hallway to make room. I see a pair of EMT’s pushing a gurney towards us with an extremely distraught woman running along beside the gurney.
“Hang in there sweetie! We are almost there...” I hear the woman plead with whoever is on the gurney.
I manage to catch a glimpse of the person that is on the gurney. There is a little 6 to 8 year old girl covered in blood resting on the gurney. I notice that she is only at 5% health when she passes. I whisper a quick prayer for the little girl.
I spot the sign for the hospital’s trauma center just ahead and they quickly disappear down the hallway with the sound of doors slamming open from the impact of the gurney.
Phew!
She made it, but somehow, I can still sense her and I become alarmed when her health drops to 4%. “She’s not going to make it...” I say, glancing desperately at Agent Thompson, then back to Kim.
Faraday must have overheard me because he misses a step and I grow hopeful that he is going to let me try and help the little girl, but instead, he sighs and shakes his head no. “Too many witnesses...” He says, regretfully.
3%
We pass the doors and I can’t take it anymore. “Easier to get forgiveness, right?” I mutter as I break Agent Thompson’s light grip on my arm. He makes a halfhearted attempt to stop me before I run through the doors leading into the trauma center. I spot the EMTs wheeling her into a room labeled Operation Room Two.
“Hey! You can’t...” I hear a nurse or someone yell at me as I race to the door that she disappeared into.
2%
Crap!
I spot a pair of doctors along with three nurses surrounding the girl and desperately cutting away clothes. The nurses are feverishly trying to hook her tiny and broken body up to the diagnostic machines while the doctors are trying to do something to stop her bleeding as her heart starts to falter. They haven’t spotted me and I doubt that they would let me help her, but I glance behind me and a pair of hospital guards along with a host of FBI and L.A.P.D. anxiously rushing toward me and they do not look happy.
I pop a sphere of darkness just in front of me so that it will cover not only myself, but the operating table and then, amidst the screams and chaos. I step inside the now pitch black room. Unless someone bumps right into me, they won’t be able to see me, I hope.
“Get the power back up!” One of the doctors yells with desperation.
1%
I cast my Vampiric Heal on the little girl and grimace with pain when it connects with her chest and begins to drain my health.
10%
I ignore all the people yelling and stumbling around in the pitch black as I keep my spell going. Healing her takes another 8% of my health, but due to her small size and age; it only takes me five long seconds to heal her to 100%
The adrenaline must help me because when I cancel the spell, I don’t stumble in the slightest. I easily weave my way between the blinded hospital staff and agents who are actively trying to find me and I end up popping out of the darkness right next to a very worried looking Agent Thompson. He grabs me, and then quickly wraps his jacket over my head as he leads me out of the area. I cancel the darkness spell and when it the light returns, I hear someone scream. “Oh my god!”
I can’t tell if that is a good OMG or a bad OMG, but maybe it is both. Agent Thompson throws me into the SUV with Kim right behind and as soon as the doors close, we speed off.
“God damnit Wilson! What in the fuck were you thinking?!?” Special Agent Faraday yells from the front passenger seat.
Oh yeah, Special Agent Faraday is not happy. “She was going to die...” I say defensively and that seems to take some of the wind out of his sails, but it easy to see that he is still pissed.
Everyone in the SUV with me looks so tasty, I mean healthy. I am only down by 27%, but I feel so empty inside and I am surrounded by a very appealing buffet of health. I close my eyes to block out the sight and I feel myself start to crash as the adrenaline begins to fade. I am so tired and I try to fight it, but that effort only prolongs my awareness long enough to hear Faraday’s phone begin to ring.
I wake up back at the safe house tucked in my bed with all blinds and curtains closed to help make the room as dark as possible. I perform a quick inventory of myself and the first thing that I discover is that I have managed to regain 5% of my health. How long was I out for? I also very quickly realize that I am not wearing my clothes.
I am not wearing much of anything except for panties and some silky top thing. Like a shot, I sit up and as the covers fall off; I discover that I am wearing what appears to be a flimsy white silk dress sleep thing. Well, I think it is a nightie or whatever women call them. Jen would sometimes wear something similar and that is what she called it, but I have to admit that I enjoyed it more when she wore her sexy black silk negligee. Rawr.
Who in the hell undressed me and put me into this thing? That is what I want to know because I sure hope that it wasn’t Faraday. I look around the room and spot the glowing red alarm clock. It is 6:37PM. Wow, I have been asleep for about six hours and with that, my stomach decides to growl at me to remind me that I have not eating anything since last night. My bladder also reminds me that it needs some attention.
I slip out from between the covers and discover that even after I tug it down, the flimsy nightie thing barely covers my butt. It also does not provide any support up top. My breasts painfully bounce a few times before I alter my gait to smooth things out. Thank god no one can see me in this thing right now!
I don’t bother turning the light on. I don’t need it and I don’t want to waste any time reaching the toilet by being blinded by the sudden light. I catch myself trying to lift both the lid and the seat and with a frustrated sigh, I split the two, spin around, drop my panties and sit.
I spend the rest of the week grounded to the safe house and recovering from my unauthorized adventure. I am not able to test draining some cows to regain my health, but I discover that I naturally regenerate 10% of my health per day. That is great, but not nearly as good as it was in the game. It would be nice if I could heal super-fast, but I guess that 10% per day is nothing to sneeze at either.
I felt very relieved when I learned that it was my mom, Kim, that dressed me and put me to bed, but they were mean and would not let her stay. I was a little disappointed when I discovered that, but she had to work and she has her real family to take care of too. Using one of the FBI’s phones, they let me call and talk to her once a day, but they limit the call to 30 minutes. I never realized that 30 minutes could be so short because I can’t remember the last time I spoke to someone on the phone for more than five minutes before my ‘little’ change.
Jen’s story makes it to the front page of almost every newspaper. I guess that it is really my story, but Jen wrote it and I must say that it is rather good. I would give her the Pulitzer for it in a heartbeat. It spawned a ton of related news stories and talk show discussions that ranged from the normal “Is Mystique really a villain?” to the outright bizarre “Is Mystique really Elvis’s lost love child?” Even Special Agent Faraday seemed to like Jen’s story because he sent a pair of DHS agents to her apartment with a secure phone so that I could talk to her for a few minutes. Well, it actually ended up being 45 minutes. The dang girl can talk and it isn’t like I had anything to talk about other than my ninja healing of the little girl or clothes advice or hair advice or anything else, honest.
I did have to pick a middle name for my new identity. That took another call to Mom, I mean Kim, because I had no idea what to use for my middle name. I wanted to use Allison, but I didn’t want to be reminded of my forbidden Ally form.
Kim quickly suggested Ann, meh, Cora, ehh, Zoe, hmm, Hailey, dunno that could be changed to Hallie, which could be changed to Allie, and finally, she also suggested, Jennifer. I have no idea how she came up with so many names so quickly. Did she have a baby name book in her pocket or did she just know that many mostly good names? I felt torn. I liked Cora, Zoe and Jennifer. Jennifer for obvious reasons, but that would also be kind of weird.
I picked Cora and that made Kim cry because Cora was her grandma’s name. Zoe was her Aunt’s name and Hailey was a niece's name that she liked. I guessed that it would not have mattered which name I picked because she would have cried no matter what.
That selection spawned more paperwork, which Faraday managed to spread out the pain by giving Special Agent Helligan some of the work. Special Agent-in-Charge Brown also got a fair amount of extra work and so did some Department of Justice lawyers.
By the middle of the week, I was no longer public enemy number one and the pressure was off without the public screaming for my head. Instead, I was now the hero of the week with all the major news networks pestering the FBI and the DMA for the ‘right’ to interview me.
Yes, ninja healing the little girl, Maddie, short for Madalene, was a stupid thing for me to do. I was trying to avoid the healing trap, but instead, I stuck my neck right onto the chopping block. I mean, we could hide my healing utility fairly well with the police officers, but healing Maddie in such a dramatic fashion was far too visible for everyone to ignore or pretend it never happened.
That is what I thought, but Special Agent Faraday is full of far more resources than I would expect a “simple” DHS Special Agent to possess. Somehow, the story changed from “I healed a little girl from death’s door” to “I caused a ruckus by my concern for the little girl and the doctors realized that her wounds were far less severe than they initially appeared.” Something about the combination of a minor concussion depressing the girl’s vital signs coupled with the blood from a minor head wound that made it look worse than it really was.
Somehow, Faraday also managed to get me an almost immediate, by California standards, court date. Friday afternoon of the same week and by the time Friday came to pass, even I almost believed the official story.
Jade surprised me with another appearance the night before my court date. She was mostly there see how I was doing and to make sure that Faraday wasn’t being too mean to me. I managed to talk her into removing the restriction for magic use and allowing me a second disguise. A version of me that looked like me, but at my current apparent 16 year old age and with the same color hair and eyes as Kim. I couldn’t really explain why, but I just wanted to look more like I could be Kim’s daughter.
Jade snuck in a Mystique disguise mode for me too. Well, she didn’t really sneak it in because she did tell me, but at least she gave me a two different preset costume options to use instead of the standard evil Mystique skulls and white loincloth costume design. I also got Mystique’s black leather halter top with tight leather pants costume.
Yes, the irony of all the disguises did not escape me. I am not Mystique, but thanks to Jade’s ring, I sure in hell can fake being a shape shifter like Mystique. It wasn’t until after she departed that I wished that I had asked for my DBO Vylencia costume instead. There is no way that anyone would ever confuse me with Mystique if I looked like an evil magic user. Wait, okay, maybe that would not have been a good idea either.
All the options make it very hard to decide what to go to court looking like. Well, that is until I asked Faraday for his advice. “Just go as yourself. I asked the DHS’s legal counsel about it and that is what they advised.”
So, thanks to Mom, I am not going as myself. I am wearing a business suit. Well, a women’s business suit which means that I am wearing a conservative skirt, panty hose, two inch patent leather heels, a white blouse covered by a non-functional suit styled jacket and I even have a little makeup on my face. Just a little eye shadow around my eyes to try and minimize the impact that blood red corneas have on the monkey hindbrain of people. I blame Hollywood for producing too many monster movies and giving their villains red eyes.
Kim even styled my hair with an eye towards making me look more mature since a pony tail is generally not considered ‘professional’. I have no idea who makes these rules for women, but whoever ‘they’ are, they need to stop. She put it up in a rather nice French braid that effectively made it a pony tail, but it is a braid and not a pony tail so it fits the business hair rules for women. I think.
I am allowed a huddle with my Justice Department supplied attorneys. They warn me that the Judge is allowing Doctor Franks and his lawyers to state their case against me for practicing medicine without a license. They feel confident that nothing will come out of it since I was using magic and not medicine.
Shortly after that, I am lead into the courtroom from the rear. I do not get to enter via the front doors like everyone else. I guess that, technically, I am a prisoner, so it should not be that big of a surprise when I am handed off to a bailiff by my team of FBI agents. The bailiff then leads me into the courtroom proper. They do not put me in cuffs, for which I am grateful since that would make me appear more dangerous or something. Nothing to see here, just little ‘ole innocent me.
To aid in that ‘innocent me’ demeanor, Kim had to work with me to retrain my high heel walk. Well, to make me not walk like I am a confident, sexy and dangerous femme fatale. It is amazing how hard it is for me to overcome that one day of muscle memory and walk like I am merely a normal, everyday confident woman. I am able to do it, but much to Kim’s and my own frustration, that normal walk takes a lot of concentration and that does not bode well for the future.
I am surprised by who is in the audience. For starters, my mom is there. Not Kim, but my real mom. My real dad is not there, which is also a surprise because I would not expect my mom to break ranks from him. She is sitting on the side of the defense and I find that confusing because I would expect her to be there to speak against me as some filthy metahuman.
In addition to my real mom, Kim and a man that has to be her husband Jim is with her. The sight of both of them makes me smile, but I do not dare wave at the two of them. That would be unprofessional.
Of course, Agent Thompson, Agent Ferguson, and Agent Kramer are there along with their boss, Special Agent Helligan. Helligan’s facial expression remains impassive, but all of her men have a suspicious twinkle in their eyes that tell me that they are behind me. Special Agent-in-Charge Brown is there along with a young looking female agent. Well, I assume that she is an FBI agent. She has the suit and that FBI look.
Aside from my real mom making an appearance, I am also surprised to see the little girl that I didn’t officially heal. Maddie is there with her Mom and Dad. Being only 7 years old, she has no problems with smiling and waving at me to show her support. Her parents make an attempt to stifle her outburst in such a formal environment, but I can tell that their hearts are not really in it. The sight of her smiling and happy face boosts my mood considerably.
There are not very many people on the Prosecution side of the courthouse, but Grumpy Doctor No Voodoo Magic Franks is there with two other lawyer looking types in suits. What are they doing here?
The official start of the ‘trial’ or hearing as it is called involved the judge reading a few pieces of paper for the first five minutes or so. He scowls and harrumphs a few times while he is reading. Additionally, he occasionally looks up to glare at the District Attorney or me. Well, it looks like a glare to me. He does this act just enough to make everyone uncomfortable, but not long enough to make them outright upset.
Finally, he sets the papers down, pauses for a few seconds to collect his thoughts and looks directly at me. “Young lady, I must admit that this is probably the most unusual case that I have ever had in my courtroom. It is not often that the DHS, FBI, DMA and Department of Justice are on the side of the accused. First of all, let us begin with the laundry list of charges.”
Oh crap. That doesn’t sound good.
I glance over to my attentive and very competent looking defense attorneys. Well, if they don’t look worried, I guess that I don’t need to worry either.
“Miss Wilson, you have been charged with Resisting Arrest, Making a Terroristic Threat, Grand Larceny, two counts of Attempted Murder and the newest addition to the list, Practicing Medicine without a License.”
He pauses for a second with the last charge and glances over at Doctor Franks and his group before looking back at me. “Now, for the last charge, how do you plead?”
Talk about a surprise question! The nearest attorney on my side whispers my answer and motions for me to stand to address the judge. “Your honor, I plead not guilty.”
He appears a little surprised by my plea. I don’t see how he could be surprised because doesn’t everyone plead that way? “Do you or your council care to explain why? The evidence seems rather overwhelming to support that charge.”
I can’t help but notice the satisfied smile from Dr. Franks, but the attorney next to me stands and clears his throat. “Yes, your honor. Miss Wilson was not practicing medicine when she treated Office Reynolds and Officer Grant.”
Judge Davis raises his eyebrow to express his confusion while Doctor Franks’ jaw drops to the floor and he makes a funny gasping fish face. “Care to explain that statement Mr. Lawrence because the evidence clearly supports the claim that she treated Officer Reynolds and Officer Grant. Did she or did she not treat them?”
I don’t see how I can get out of this because I did treat them, but Mr. Lawrence remains completely calm and relaxed. He even manages an almost imperceptible smile. “Yes, your honor, she did treat Officer Reynolds and Officer Grant, but she did not use Medicine as it is defined to treat them.”
Judge Davis looks like he is a tiger and about to pounce on a tasty deer or something. “Explain to me how Miss Wilson managed to treat Officer Reynolds and Officer Grant without using Medicine.”
Mr. Lawrence simple nods his head in acknowledgement. “Your honor, she used Magic, which the field of Medicine does not recognize as Medicine.”
One of the men with Doctor Franks stands with outrage. “Your honor! I must reject this claim! Miss Wilson most certainly, umm...”
Judge Davis turns an angry gaze on the man. “Yes, Mr. Dearborn?”
Mr. Dearborn withers under Judge Davis’ gaze and he glances to his partner for support. “Nothing your honor, sorry.”
“Overruled.” Judge Davis says as he returns his attention back to me. “Miss Wilson, did you use magic to treat Officer Reynolds and Officer Grant?”
Now, I am really confused. I look over to Mr. Lawrence for advice and he nods his head yes. “Yes, your honor. I did.”
Judge Davis nods, then glances over to Mr. Dearborn and then, back to Mr. Lawrence. “Is there a License to Practice Magic that Miss Wilson may be in violation of?”
Mr. Dearborn looks confused and lost as he looks over to his partner for support. His partner merely shrugs his shoulders in response. Mr. Lawrence makes a show of consulting with his team. “No your honor, there is no License to Practice Magic issued by any agency in the United States.”
“Mr. Dearborn, while your organization may be able to make a case of this issue and it is certainly within your rights, I view your case against Miss Wilson to be flimsy at best. How do you and your client wish to proceed?”
Dr. Franks does not look happy, but after a quick whisper conference with his attorneys, he slumps into his seat with defeat. “Your honor, we wish to withdraw with prejudice our claim of Practicing Medicine without a License.”
Judge Davis smiles at the men as they resume their seat. “Excellent decision, gentlemen, because I for one would not want to be in your shoes if that case ever made it to trial.”
His somewhat jovial mood fades as he turns his gaze back to me before turning to study the District Attorney. “Now, for the criminal charges, Mr. Roseland, I understand that you wish to modify the charges?”
“Yes your honor. After meeting with Miss Wilson, speaking with her alleged victims, the FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Brown, DMA Special Agent Helligan and the LAPD Chief of Police Falk, I would like to drop most of the charges against Miss Wilson and emend the two counts of Attempted Murder to two counts of Reckless Endangerment.”
Judge Davis handles the game plan change with aplomb. “I see Mr. Roseland. Once again, most unusual. I anticipate that you are seeking a specific sentence for Miss Wilson?”
“Yes, your honor. I believe that Miss Wilson is genuinely regretful for her actions and she may even benefit from some prison time, but the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security believes that she may benefit more by serving her country and I agree with their assessment.”
“I see, and what exactly do you propose?”
Mr. Roseland smiles at me and then, turns back to address Judge Davis. “Miss Wilson appears to suffer from a slight case of impulse control and for the two counts of Reckless Endangerment, I propose that Miss Wilson be offered the choice of serving 60 days in prison followed by one year of community service or be allowed to enlist with the FBI. The FBI has stated that they would be interested in training her and if she is able to successfully complete FBI boot camp, I would suggest that her sentence be commuted and her criminal record expunged.”
“Miss Wilson, what do you think of those options?” Judge Davis asks.
I nervously stand and sneak a quick glance back at all the people standing behind me. Almost all of them are smiling or appear to be happy with the possible outcome. “Umm, your honor, the FBI sounds like a good idea for me to try.”
Judge Davis sternly studies me and I have to fight the urge to smooth my skirt and not meet his gaze. “What you did young lady was a very near miss. You do understand that?”
“Yes, your honor.” I say, simply and with complete sincerity.
“You could have easily killed the officers and then, we would all be having an entirely different conversation right now.” Judge Davis says as he looks around the half-full courtroom.
“Yes, your honor. I know that and I’m sorry.” I say as my eyes start to get a little moist. I better not start crying right now.
“I believe you and the DA believes you. Your willingness to turn yourself in and use your powers at great personal risk to help the officers you injured speaks volumes in your defense. As a result, I am willing to follow Mr. Roseland’s proposal since I also agree that putting you in a jail cell would be a waste. As a result, I am releasing you into the custody of the FBI for training and evaluation with your record to be commuted upon successful completion of said training.”
My head is still reeling from all the changes and I feel a little dizzy. “T-Thank you, your honor.” I manage to stammer out.
Judge Davis chuckles. “Well, don’t thank me yet. I’m sure that the FBI will keep you busy.” He pauses to look down at something on his desk and then, he looks over to Special Agent in Charge Brown and the female FBI agent at his side. “Special Agent Rhian Medina?”
The woman stands and politely nods her head.
“I believe that Miss Wilson is to be handed over to you so that you can escort her to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia where she will begin her training, is that correct?”
Special Agent Medina nods her head. “Yes, your honor.”
“Okay, then, Miss Wilson is all yours, Special Agent Medina. Dismissed!” He says as he bangs his gavel.
I apprehensively turn to face Special Agent Medina and now that I can actively study her, I am surprised by how young she appears to be. She looks like she might be 21, if that. Is she a metahuman too? In addition to her apparent age, she does not appear to be happy about being made my babysitter.
I walk towards her with the intent of politely shaking her hand, but she spins on her heels.
“Follow me.” Special Agent Medina says brusquely as she motions for me to follow.
What is her problem?
--The End